Bathing with Eradicons
by JenKristo
Summary: TFPrime verse. Starscream shows up unannounced in the eradicons' shower room looking for someone to bathe him after an accident. Steve x Starscream.
1. Chapter 1

_Who is Steve? Well I didn't make him up. There are several artists and writers who have portrayed him. Steve is a joke, a fan-made character who worships and idolizes Starscream. Whenever Starscream abuses an eradicon, he's doing it to Steve and Steve doesn't even care. I'm crazy for eradicons so of course I'm smitten with Steve. _

_Also, I'm abandoning some TF terms in favor of human phrases and anatomy, just because I'm bored and I feel like it. You could say this story was made for my own amusement. It's going to get very dirty. Please enjoy._

1

Starscream was filthy. Maybe it wasn't obvious to someone else, but he knew it. He could feel the grit stuck in his seams and he could see the film of desert dust on his plating. He stared at the personal wash rack in his quarters. He looked from the shower head to the spray wand to the long stemmed scrubber and the sponge.

Finally his optics settled on the throbbing stub beneath his shoulder where his arm had been this morning. It had been one hell of a day. Starscream finally admitted to himself that he needed to find someone to lend a hand. Maybe there were some maimed mechs out there who could wash themselves with one arm, but fuck them. He wasn't used to it. He couldn't properly wash himself with one arm and he couldn't stay dirty forever. He wouldn't even get into his berth if he were half as grimy as he was now.

He went through the officers in his head, each presenting a different unappealing awkward conversation, not including Soundwave, of course. But he'd snap off his own heels before asking that slagger to get in the wash with him.

There was a knock at the door and Starscream sighed and called out without turning. "_Enter_."

The door opened and an eradicon stepped in holding a tray with a small cube of bluish-tinted energon. "Commander Starscream, here is your medicinal energon from Officer Knockout. His instructions are for you to notify him if you are still feeling pain tomorrow."

Starscream held out his hand. The eradicon jumped a little from where he stood at the door, realizing he should have come forward to hand it to him. Starscream took the cube from the tray and drank it down. He held the empty cube, still looking at the wash rack as he contemplated his predicament.

The medicinal energon began to work almost right away. The throbbing he had been trying to ignore ebbed into a light ache. Much better. As was expected with most medicinal energons, they came with a side effect or two. This one wasn't bad. There was a tingling of excess energy in his remaining hand, along the edge of his wings and in the tips of his feet and heels. It was nothing. He'd felt more of a buzz from a few sips of high grade.

He suddenly became aware of the eradicon still standing beside him. Starscream snapped. "What are you still doing here?"

"Waiting to dispose of your cube, Commander," the drone said.

"Oh right," Starscream said offhandedly as he dropped the empty cube on the tray. He glared at his wash rack as the eradicon left the room.

It only took one or two more seconds for him to realize his solution had just walked out of the room.

"Wait!" he shouted at the door. He rushed into the hall and looked both ways. The eradicon was gone. "Just wonderful."

He headed down the hall, through two sets of double doors to a narrower strip of hall. This was the eradicons' living area. The strip of halls here were the doors to their personal quarters. This area was comprised of a lighter grey metal and lit with white lights rather than the elegant purple illuminating the main hallways.

As he walked he noticed the continued energy from the medicinal energon, really making the bottoms of his feet and wing tips sensitive. He flexed his hand, trying to rid himself of the feeling.

Starscream continued on, surprised that he hadn't bumped into a single soldier. Finally he heard the sound of conversation and laughing. He stepped through a door and knew from the humidity and steam where he was going. He turned a corner to find the crowded public wash racks.

To be continued.


	2. Chapter 2

2

The closest eradicons saw him and straightened up, but most of them were busy and didn't notice at all. He doubted any officer had ever been in these wash racks. Not that Starscream cared about that. He continued inside. Most of them washed in groups or pairs, scrubbing the hard-to-reach spots.

It was very warm in the room and moisture clung to Starscream's plating. In the back of his mind he thought it was kind of fun catching the drones off-guard, soaked and sudsy.

It would end soon, he knew. The eradicons behind him had already started elbowing their comrades to shut up. Starscream grew impatient and cleared his voice. The remaining turned around and a silence fell across the room.

"As you can see I'm a little short handed at the present," he said, gesturing to his missing arm, "and I need assistance washing. One of you will do it."

He heard a quick scuffle in the back. The echoing in the room helped him pick up the furious whispering of, 'no, no, no' followed by hushed laughter. The eradicons up front moved aside as one from the back was forced forward. As soon as the drone was in plain sight he straightened up and composed himself.

The eradicon beside him spoke. "This is ST-3V3. He's very good in this category. He's the most qualified for assistance washing, having gained experience aiding injured soldiers after-"

"Marvelous," Starscream said sarcastically, cutting him off. He sized up the offered eradicon, but it was only for show. They all looked the same to him.

Starscream made a quick decision. Originally he had intended to drag one back to his room to clean him up, but he was enjoying the atmosphere in here. Maybe he could have a little fun with this, keep them nervous a little longer. He walked over to an open shower head and went for the dial, only to discover it was different than the one in his room.

"How does this work?" He glared back at his new assistant. "_Well?_"

"S-sorry Commander." The drone leaned in, taking careful measure not to brush against Starscream's shoulder as he turned on the water. Starscream noticed the gesture but couldn't care about it. He closed his eyes, enjoying the hot water almost as much as the tension in the room. He smirked and decided to give it a rest. "As you were," he called out. The eradicons awkwardly went back to what they were doing, hushed murmurs replacing the conversation from before.

When he was fully soaked he turned to see the assisting drone holding a wash stool. He didn't usually use one, but if it was offered then why not? He sat down and crossed his legs, waiting expectantly. The con came back with a sudsy sponge and stood in front of him. Starscream watched him, optics narrowed as he noticed the drone's hands shaking at his sides, foamy cleanser dripping from the clenched sponge.

"Are you going to stand there forever or start washing me?"

"Ah… w-where would you like me to start, Commander?"

"Where I can't reach, of course. My wings."

The drone went around him. He felt one hand ghost over a wing, very slowly as if he were afraid. Primus, he was shaking so badly, which was even more noticeable against Starscream's sensitive wing. What was his problem? The sponge met with the other side of the wing and began to move, shakily but ever so gently. He slid it up and down the wing and turned it over to the other side. Starscream felt a twinge of heat between his legs. But it was nothing. Any blundering fool could turn on a seeker by handling their wings. But then the eradicon went over the plating again, this time sliding it in slow circles. Ooh that felt good.

Starscream closed his optics, enjoying the massage. That other drone wasn't kidding about this one being good. "Mmm," Starscream hummed, leaning into the touch. He smiled to himself when the eradicon's hands fumbled in response. "What's your name again? ST-something? Don't you drones have something easier… nicknames?"

"M-my name is Steve, Sir," the eradicon mumbled.

Starscream didn't respond, but he made a note of the name in case he felt like snapping at the drone later. Steve continued on, rinsing the wings with a wand. He used the sharp points of his digits to dig out the grains wedged into the seams of Starscream's wings, an unnecessary detail that Starscream appreciated inwardly.

Steve moved to his back and then to his half-missing arm. Starscream tensed as the drone worked on his wounded arm, waiting for the slightest hint of pain to allow him to hit the mech. Sure he could just hit him for presuming to touch the appendage, but he really was doing careful work, gentler than even a medic could have done. Starscream thought he might simply remark on the drone's presumption, but before Starscream spoke up he had moved to his other arm. Starscream stretched out his arm for easier access. Steve set his hand lightly beneath Starscream's wrist. The gesture stirred Starscream further into arousal. It was strange. He couldn't explain why such a slight gesture had invoked anything in him. He felt the cleanser-mixed water pour from the sponge over his plating, streaming under his arm and down his side. The circling movement was so slow and rhythmic that Starscream's head processor began to swim.

A throb from beneath his interface panel woke him from his daze. He pulled his arm away, placing it on the wash stool for support. "That's good enough. Wash my legs." He stretched his legs out a little further for emphasis.

He saw the drone's hull expand and contract in a big cycle of air. He went around and knelt on the floor in front of Starscream. He reached for the seeker's heeled foot but paused before touching it. Starscream huffed impatiently.

"Well get on with it," he complained. He lifted his leg and pushed his foot against the eradicon's chest plating, grinding his heel against the paint. The drone's intakes hitched as he looked down at the foot. Starscream had a strange feeling that he wasn't looking at the scratch being ground into his purple enamel. His hands tentatively came up, not pushing it off at all. He began to wash him with the sponge, shaking nervously all over again. The water trailed to Starscream's calf plating, some managing to drip all the way down his thigh. The drone seemed transfixed on his foot.

Starscream spoke under his breath, his internals a mix of arousal and annoyance. "_What is it?_"

"I apologize, Commander," the drone said in a low voice. "I was distracted. Your feet are so beautiful."

"Well I…" Starscream's face plates heated up and he looked away. Of course he knew he was stunning, but it was rare that anyone had the audacity to say it to him. "Just get on with it."

Steve continued to wash him and Starscream continued to enjoy. He rubbed those maddening circles all the way up to his mid thigh, then switched to his other leg and worked again to his mid thigh. Starscream chafed his leg against the eradicon's side as he worked, pleased at how heated his frame was, along with the obvious distraction it had become for the subordinate. He vaguely noticed the other eradicons watching as they washed each other, their pace slowing as they leaned into one another's touch. Starscream couldn't be bothered much with any of that, not with this drone and his talented hands on him.

Starscream fantasized about how the eradicon's spike would feel in him. He hadn't had a new lover since he'd bonded with Megatron, and Megatron didn't even try to please him anymore. Megatron treated his own sex drive like a chore. He'd frag it out of his system and pay Starscream no attention until it returned ages later. He'd often leave Starscream untouched for so long that he'd have to self-service, which was humiliating and unnatural for a seeker. Seekers were built to be lavished in attention.

The washing stopped and Starscream opened his optics which had fallen closed at some point.

"Would you like to finish yourself, Commander Starscream?"

Starscream realized that the drone had finished everything that was not too personal to scrub. His mouth curled into a devious smile. "Oh no. You're going to finish the job you started." He slid his hips closer to the edge of the stool for good measure.

Steve was quiet for a while. "Y-yes Sir." He continued slowly, working around the sides of his hips, hesitantly cleaning the smooth plating of his inner thighs.

Steve finally stopped again when he had nothing to wash but the interface panel. He looked up at Starscream and offered him the sponge. With darkened optics and that devilish smirk, Starscream shook his head. He spread his legs a little further. "I'm dirty there too, drone. I need you to wash me."

The drone's cooling fans whirred to life and he hunched ashamedly. "Oh Primus, I'm so sorry."

"Do your job," Starscream commanded.

Starscream watched with amusement as the drone between his legs looked down at his open legs. Starscream pushed his leg against the eradicon's interface panel, causing the mech to jump with surprise. He rubbed the front of his ankle against it, the heat turning him on even further. He felt lubricant beginning to pool inside his interface panel.

The drone pressed the sponge against the metal and Starscream closed his optics. He began to scrub, a slow motion up and down. Starscream let out a groan that made the sponge shudder against him. "Ooh," he purred, arching into the touch. "Harder, I need you to really clean me."

He ground his ankle against the eradicon's interface panel, marveling at the drone's willpower to keep from grinding back against his commander's leg. Curious, he sent out an internal commlink request to Steve's firewall. He accepted, of course.

'_Why did your comrades push you to the front?'_ Starscream asked.

The drone slowed his rubbing and finally lowered his hand as he concentrated on internally comming back. _'I… They know that I am… fond of you.'_

'_And so why didn't you volunteer yourself?'_

'_I'm not worthy of touching you.'_

That did it. Starscream's interface panel snapped open in response. The eradicon looked up at him, catching his commander's shocked expression. Starscream recovered quickly, looking down at the drone seriously. He took the sponge from his hand and threw it to the side.

"Do what you want to me."

To be continued.


	3. Chapter 3

3

The drone must have been frozen. Starscream used his foot to rub the eradicon's side encouragingly. He took his wrist, pulling the nervous mech's hand to rest against his open interface unit. "Just do it."

The eradicon took a breath. Starscream was surprised as he moved his hand, not lower against his valve but off to the side to hold onto his hip. He raised his other hand, brushing his digits against Starscream's inner thigh. He slid inward, slowly and tantalizingly, until finally settling on the deliciously wet valve. He brought his hand to his mask, pressing a lubricant-coated digit against the rectangular opening. Starscream shivered with embarrassment. The drone was tasting him.

"I'm… I'm going to do something I uh... Please tell me to stop if it's too much for you."

"Oh certainly," Starscream smirked at the thought that the eradicon could do anything that was too much for him.

Steve took his hips in his hands and leaned forward, pressing the lower 'mouth' part of his mask against Starscream's valve. It didn't feel like anything for a moment, but then the drone's engine came on a little more. Starscream heard a peculiar metal shifting sound. The drone had deactivated his muffler and resonator. The engine became noisier, a slight hum in the mask working against Starscream.

"Wow that's… pretty nice."

Starscream thought he heard a chuckle from somewhere in the mass of watching eradicons. A moment later Steve's engine boosted to full power; a vibration hitting Starscream so hard that he jumped in surprise. He yelped, his remaining servo coming up to cover his mouth. Steve's engine roared again and again, a pulsing of vibration that sent Starscream's intakes gasping for air. His legs shook, heels scraping against the wet floor. Steve's hands held his hips tightly in place and Starscream grabbed his shoulder for support. The pulsing was relentless, over and over, shaking him to his core. He whimpered uncontrollably, louder than he would normally allow himself.

The eradicon had barely started and Starscream was getting close to an overload. He moaned, digging his digits into the purple shoulder plating. "Oh Primus…" he breathed, grinding against the drone's face plating. The energy was building and he was _so_ close…

"He's not going to last much longer," someone murmured with amusement, not quietly enough to escape Starscream's audio. Starscream felt indignation swell in him. He definitely couldn't overload so fast in front of all of these eradicons! He pushed against the eradicon's shoulder, but Steve misinterpreted it and put an arm around his lower back to pull him closer.

"St-sto… ah!" he couldn't get it out. He heard the drone let out a growl against him, not from the engine but from his vocals. The engine roared one long, last time, tipping Starscream over. He cried out, body arching painfully in an overload. He felt the drone's hands gripping him, refusing to let him go until he had forced every last ounce of pleasure out of Starscream's body.

Starscream leaned forward as his cooling vents cycled, little tremors still shaking him. Steve's engine finally ceased, the metal shifting inside again, silencing the noise. Starscream tried to recover, slowly pushing the drone back so he could look at him. He glared even harder as he saw his own pearlescent lubricants dripping generously from the drone's lower faceplating.

He gave him a slap on the cheek. "You! I told you to stop!"

"Y-you did? I'm so sorry Commander… I didn't hear."

Maybe Starscream hadn't _actually _said it, but he had thought it and he could slap the con if he wanted to. He glared at the eradicons, speculating over which had mocked him. He glanced back at the drone in front of him and wondered if he was thinking the same. No, Starscream would certainly not let his reputation go undefended.

But maybe it wasn't that. Maybe he just wanted more. Yes, if the drone could do this to him with a little bathing and a valve-rub, he had to have it all. He wanted the mech to do everything and anything to him. He spoke low under his breath. "You're not finished with me yet, are you?"

He hooked a digit on the eradicon's armor and tugged him up as he stood. He backed toward the wall, pleased as he watched Steve's chest plating rise and fall.

He turned around and put his arm on the wall, arching his back a little to give the con a good view. He glanced over his shoulder once to see Steve taking a cautious step toward him, wiping the lubricant from his face. The gesture was possibly the sexiest thing he'd ever seen. He closed his optics and pressed his helm against the wall, waiting.

And again the drone's hands were on him, gently wrapping around his hips. Starscream backed up to meet him, rubbing his aft against the eradicon's heated interface panel. He smiled as he heard it snap open in response. The con's careful hands moved down, two digits pushing slowly into him. He groaned as the drone stretched him, still feeling the ever-present nervousness emanating from those hands. He figured it out then, some need the drone had to be careful with him, touching him as if he were precious. Megatron had always handled him like a plaything. It made Starscream want him even more.

"Hurry," he whined. He'd intended that to come out sexy but it just sounded desperate.

"Commander, are you really sure?"

"Yes," he hissed through gritted denta. Starscream felt him position himself, and the sweet stretch as the drone's spike pushed into his valve. The drone let out a deep groan, slowing when he was half way in. Starscream panted, rocking his hips back in an effort to take him in deeper.

"Ngh, Primus," the eradicon groaned, obligingly rocking forward, filling Starscream all the way. He began to roll his hips more expertly than Starscream had anticipated.

"Is this alright?" Steve murmured into his audio. Primus, his voice was sexy when he spoke that way.

"Y-yes. Harder please..." Starscream blinked._ Please?_ Had he just begged a drone for something? His thought vanished as the eradicon gave him a quick thrust.

"Ah!"

"A-are you okay?"

"Yes, that was... yes! Shut up and keep doing that!"

The drone started a quick rhythm. Starscream whimpered, rocking his hips to meet him with each powerful thrust. He began to shout orders which quickly turned to more begging, "Harder, more, please, more," until the eradicon was fucking him as hard as he could, collision of metal ringing in the seeker's audios. He could barely think anymore, his processor buzzing with pleasure.

Starscream pushed against the wall as much as he could with his only arm, but it was starting to weaken. It finally gave out and Starscream's hand slipped, accidentally turning on the hot water above them.

"Are you alright?"

The drone's arm reached out to brace against the wall where Starscream's missing arm should have been. His other arm wrapped around the seeker's chest to support him. Starscream's optics pooled with fluid and he told himself it was from the humidity.

"W-what's your name again?" Starscream managed to ask as the eradicon thrust into him.

"Steve, sir."

Steve's helm pressed against Starscream's back and once again he could hear the sound of metal moving inside the con. His engine ignited. Starscream gasped, that vibration returning full force. He could feel it deep inside of him now, ruthlessly strong in his now sensitive valve, Steve's body shaking him as he held on tighter.

Steve panted. "C-commander, I'm gonna…"

Starscream felt an overwhelming desire to please him. He wanted the drone to take as much pleasure from this as Starscream was. There was no telling what fantasies the drone had made up of him, but Starscream wanted to exceed them, to blow is processor out of the water. But there was little he could do now, being slammed against the wash rack wall and dizzy with over-stimulation.

Starscream whimpered on the peak of overload himself, each thrust driving him closer. He twisted back to look at the eradicon. "Ahh, Steve…"

The drone growled, his frame tensing as he overloaded, digits digging into Starscream's hips. Starscream overloaded at the feel of searing transfluid filling his valve. Steve supported him as his legs buckled.

The two of them slid clumsily to their knees. Steve pulled out and Starscream turned onto his side and leaned against the wall as he looked at the eradicon. Their legs were still tangled from falling together. He noticed that the other eradicons had begun filtering out, perhaps feeling it was out of place to linger any longer. Starscream didn't mind having the drone to himself for a while.

To be continued.

I must thank Gokunobaka for the gorgeous gift art. The quote from chapter 2 made me go, 'ohh!' And Steve looks so cute and Starscream so sexy. It positively made my evening. Check out the link in the reviews.

And thanks to Scancrasher for the lovely, in-depth review. Getting to hear what you particularly liked definitely pushed me to finish this chapter. Everyone should check out Scancrasher's TFP fic on LJ.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I'll update as soon as I can.


	4. Chapter 4

I've been working on this every day since the last update and it's been painful. The story has gotten such lovely responses and sexy fanart that I've been worried about meeting your expectations. Or maybe Steve's perspective was just difficult to write. Who knows! I hope you enjoy.

4

Steve reached up to turn off the water. They sat there on the wash rack floor, internal fans whirring to cool them. Steve could barely think about what had just happened. It was too much to believe.

Starscream had always been untouchable, rank and social class separating them like bulletproof glass. But here they were, entangled on the wash rack floor. The glass was gone. They had collided, and now he knew the warm feel of the seeker's plating, the sensation of his slender digits sliding over him, the intoxicating sound of his vocals crying out in pleasure. And there was the meeting of their optics. It wasn't like times when the seeker had beaten him for bringing bad news. It was the recognition of two sparks.

Starscream watched the other cons leave. Steve couldn't blame them for being voyeurs, even if he didn't approve. Officers didn't associate with drones, much less walk into the eradicon wash racks and let one of them... oh Primus. The talk would be endless. He didn't look forward to it.

He did, however, look forward to spending whatever minutes he had left with the Commander before it ended. Once they were alone, Starscream turned to look at him. Steve studied Starscream's expression. He had become a master at this after so many cycles analyzing him from afar. Starscream watched him with the dazed expression he had on the rare occasions when something went right for him. It was about as close to happy as the seeker ever came. It was unreal to Steve that the Commander would ever look at him this way. His spark fluttered.

Starscream laughed.

What had he done? What was so funny? It was likely something embarrassing, but what was a little degradation when he could put a smile on Starscream's face? He tilted his head questioningly. Outright asking would be too forward. Starscream's musical laugh ended with a sigh. He looked at Steve with wonder. "I was not expecting any of that."

"I-I'm sorry I didn't mean to-"

"Oh, relax, would you? I just meant I didn't come here looking for a frag. But you were so much fun, so nervous and obvious. And you…" He looked over Steve's frame in a way that made him shiver. "You're _very _good."

"Wha.. t-thank you, Commander."

"You get around, don't you? Nobody moves like that without a little experience under their cab."

Steve fidgeted nervously. "Ah, n-no. I mean… yes, but… well, most of us do."

"Really? There's a lot of casual interfacing going on with you drones?"

"Yes, sir."

Starscream seemed amused. "Tell me more."

"Uh…" Steve was stumped trying to figure out how to explain the sexual dynamics of his class to his commanding officer in a proper, professional way. "Well… Eradicons are very straightforward about their wants and needs."

"Is that why everyone knew you wanted me?"

Steve felt his face plating heat up. Starscream was not simply an object of desire to him. Of course his mere presence made his processor swim, but Starscream was above something to be wanted. Steve couldn't put his thoughts together so he focused on answering the question. "I-I'm not straightforward as much as just... obvious."

Starscream chuckled. "Are there many eradicons like you who hold interest in officers?"

"No, sir."

"Really? What about Knockout or Airachnid? Even that slagger Soundwave isn't bad looking."

"Ah, well, plenty of the cons find the officers attractive. It's not quite… um… it's not quite the same with me. Their interests don't go beyond physical attraction."

Starscream's mouth opened a little, and he glanced to the side as he continued. "And why is that?"

"Because it's foolish, sir. Officers are unattainable." Steve suddenly realized what he'd just said, brought on by the look on Starscream's face. "No I didn't, I didn't mean to say anything against your conduct!"

It was too late. Starscream's expression was cold and composed. "It's fine. After all, I'm not an officer, I'm a commander." He leaned closer, trailing little circles on Steve's chest plating. "I'm a commander and you're a drone. I don't care if you think little of me."

"But I don't!" Steve blurted, quickly drawing back at the shock of his own boldness. The thought of Starscream believing he looked down on him was just too much. He wished he could verbalize his thoughts as eloquently as they went through his mind. "It only makes you more interesting."

Starscream looked away quickly and Steve knew he had said too much. Finally he rolled his optics. "Alright, I'll accept that. This has been fun but I think it's time for me to get up from this puddle."

Steve got to his feet quickly so he could help his commander. Steve pulled him up. Their height difference was small but Starscream was much lighter weight.

Starscream headed for the exit and Steve followed. They reached the hall before Starscream turned around. "What are you doing?"

"I'm… I was walking you home, sir."

"What?"

"The officers don't do that? I'm sorry, my mistake."

"No, you can." Starscream stared him like a strange organic. They began to walk silently. Starscream was not being his usual talkative self and Steve would never presume to start a conversation with him. The silence was incredibly awkward.

When Starscream finally spoke, it was rushed and uncomfortable. "Go to Knockout tomorrow and have him touch up the scratch. Tell him it was an order from me."

"You mean this, Commander?" Steve said, tapping his chest and the large crescent scratch from Starscream's heel. He loved it. He'd never be able to forget how it was put there. Steve smiled internally. "There's no need, sir. It'll just be one more to the collection."

Starscream stopped walking. "The what?"

Steve's intakes stopped. Oh slag. "Um, nothing, sir."

"Tell me."

"Just a collection of battle scratches…"

"But that's not a battle scratch." Starscream looked furious. "Are you telling me you have more scratches produced by me? You have a collection?"

"N-no, it's nothing, really, sir. It's a joke with friends."

"How many?"

"How many what, sir?"

"Don't play stupid with me! How many scratches?"

"S-six more, maybe."

"Drone, if you are lying to me…"

"Thirty. Thirty-seven."

Starscream's face was blank. "How did I ever manage that number?"

Steve was mortified. What a mouthing screw up. How could he let this happen? He hung his helm shamefully. "I'm not nervous when you aren't paying attention to me, so I personally assist you a lot."

Starscream was lost in thought, undoubtedly trying to remember every time he had struck a nearby eradicon. It was an uncountable number.

Starscream continued walking, Steve following along. He was fortunate to have an optical visor design, which let him look whichever direction without being easily noticed. He turned just a little to look at Starscream, worried by his continued silence. Starscream had drawn into his own thoughts, optics on the floor. He looked contemplative. The laughing he'd done just minutes ago seemed light-years away.

Steve wondered if there was something he could say to make it better. It was not appropriate etiquette for a drone to initiate conversation with a higher-up, and he knew better than to think what they'd done gave him license to do anything out of the norm. But he had to say something. He decided it'd be worth it to risk being scolded or punched if he could bring the mood back to the way it was in the wash racks.

But his chance had come and gone. They reached Starscream's quarters before Steve had thought up something to say. Starscream stopped at the door. He raised his chin, speaking matter-of-factly. "I've never been walked home before. What are we supposed to do now? If this is a ploy to get invited in, it's not happening."

"Oh, no. We just…"

On previous occasions that Steve had walked someone home after a hook-up, they would nuzzle their helms together in the eradicons' version of a kiss. But he would never dream of suggesting Starscream do anything of the sort.

"…we just say goodnight."

"That's all?"

"Yes, sir."

Starscream nodded. "Well, goodnight."

"Goodnight, sir."

Starscream opened the door, hitting the sensor panel hard so it would slam shut behind him. Steve sighed. He turned and walked a few paces away before hearing the door open again. Starscream came out to meet him, keeping his optics on the drone's chest.

"I remembered that Lord Megatron will be announcing a raid tomorrow. It will be dangerous… so stay behind."

Starscream hesitantly put his hand against Steve's chest, then leaned forward and planted a kiss on his cheek. The seeker turned quickly and hurried back to his room.

To be continued.


	5. Chapter 5

Short chapter, sorry.

5

Steve walked home in a daze. The feel of Starscream's kiss lingered on the metal of his face like an imprint. His spark pounded.

He walked into the eradicon living area, where the halls were lit with a brighter, more welcoming light. It was the sign that a drone could relax a little, walk less rigidly and talk freely without concern for propriety.

And of course, if chosen, the eradicons could be morons here. Steve went around the corner to the personal quarters hall and saw a crowd of drones hanging around his door. They all turned to him.

"Steve! Steve, everyone's saying you interfaced with Commander Starscream in the racks! Is it true?"

"I told him it was true," said another, "But he thinks we're all crazy."

The drones bombarded him with questions all at once, and he had to push through them to get to his door. "Guys, I just want to recharge." He stepped into his personal quarters. In front it was narrow enough that one could spread their arms and touch the cabinets on both sides. Three paces inside, the room became large enough for a narrow berth on the right and a small desk and chair to the left. He slumped into the chair.

The drones flooded in with him, completely ignoring his wish. His processor spun as his comrades continued to talk over one another.

"All of you slaggers out!" a voice shouted from the door.

The group turned to see who it was. Steve couldn't see over the mass of them, but he recognized the voice. The drones grumbled, slowly making their way out and glancing back at Steve as if looking at him would answer some of their questions.

404 leaned against the frame of the door, arms crossed as the last of them left. Once the door was closed he padded in and sprawled out on the berth, arms folded behind his helm. The vehicon had more swagger than any other three combined.

He looked at Steve expectantly. "Well I ain't got all night. Talk to me."

Steve scoffed. "You're no better than the rest of them!"

The vehicon chuckled. "Except that I'm your best friend. You remember how we met?"

"We were going to hook up, and we got to talking on the way to your place. When we got there we were so into the conversation that we just kept talking all evening."

"And?" 404 asked.

"We were like a pair of femmes."

"That's right. Only femmes do that scrap, which is why it's a secret. To the outside world, we fucked like beast machines. Really, I don't know why I get on so well with a square like you."

"Yeah," Steve said, distracted by previous events.

404 stared at him. "You're freakin' out, aren't you?"

He started to deny it, but he couldn't. He leaned back in the swivel chair, sweeping his hands back along his helm. "Yes, I so am. It was amazing. He's so amazing."

"Well just take it easy. I know this is your dream come true but don't get too excited. You know how officers are. He'll have forgotten you by tomorrow. It's the hard truth but someone has to say it. Don't make me worry about ya."

He looked at his friend. "Worry about me? Why? You're the one seeing an Autobot."

404 looked the other way. "Primus, I told you we're just hooking up."

Steve didn't push it, but he knew 404 hadn't gotten with anyone else in the last few weeks. "Well anyway, it has to be more dangerous than… than this."

404 laughed hard. "Steve, do ya know what would happen if I got caught? Megatron would be mad I didn't tell him sooner. He'd make it my new purpose to try and squeeze information out of the mech. But you…" he sat up on his elbow joints to look at Steve. "Well, we all know that Lord Megatron thinks of Starscream as his property. After all of the betrayal, why do ya think he keeps him around? Starscream is Megatron's prized trophy. He's wild, treacherous and unpredictable. Keeping him under Megatron's foot is one of his greatest signs of control. What do ya think he would do if he found out some drone stuck his spike in that pretty little port?"

404 wasn't joking anymore. "He'd tear you apart in front of all of us." 404 studied Steve. "Sorry, that was kind of heavy for your best day ever."

"It's fine. It just made me think about how hard Commander Starscream has it."

"I've already heard your rants about that."

"Well it's true! When he hits me, when he beats any of us, it's because Megatron made him that way. I know there's a better side to him. I saw it tonight."

"What, the side that lets a drone clank him?"

Steve turned to him, using silence as his warning.

"Sorry, but you know I'm right."

"No, it wasn't the interface. It was other things."

"Like what?"

404 was starting to make Steve doubt himself. Steve wondered if he was too biased to see things clearly. "He…" He couldn't tell him about the kiss. It was something he wanted to keep to himself. "He told me there's a dangerous raid tomorrow, and not to volunteer."

404 stayed quiet for a while. "When did he say that?"

"After I walked him home."

"You walked him home?"

"Yeah, so?"

404 shook his head. "Ya know, I could be wrong when I said he'd forget you by tomorrow. I mean, Megatron treats him like scrap, and here you are walking him home after an interface. He could be falling helm over heels for you."

Steve covered his face. "I can't hear this. I appreciate your change of pace but I just can't. I'm looking at today for what it was, which was just perfect. I have no expectations for tomorrow, and that's how it should be."

404 nodded, knowing the issue was no longer on the table to talk about. "So you're takin' off tomorrow, then?"

"I guess so."

"This'll be the first time Starscream takes troops onto the field without you being one of them."

Steve looked at him. "What are you talking about? Megatron would never send Starscream into battle with an arm missing."

"No,_ you_ would never send Starscream into battle with an arm missing. Megatron wants things done a certain way, and a missing arm isn't in his agenda."

"Primus. Well I'm not going to sit around while the Commander goes out there wounded."

"You're going to disobey his orders? Really?"

Steve took a moment to think about it. "If Commander Starscream is going, then I have to."

To be continued.

Creds to Scancrasher for 404. Check out her awesome TFP fic on LiveJournal. If you can't find it, note me.


	6. Chapter 6

Sorry, this update was shorter than I expected. But I'm already into the next chapter so you won't have to wait forever for it.

6

Starscream followed behind Megatron and Soundwave as the lord rattled off a list of notes he wanted Soundwave to add to the log. A pair of eradicons carrying a third on a stretcher came up fast behind them.

"Excuse us, my Lord, Commanders," one said.

Soundwave and Starscream moved so that Megatron didn't have to. Starscream glanced at the wounded eradicon, who was gripping his abdominal plating to slow the leak of energon. Still, it was dripping on the floor in a trail as they passed. Only a few paces ahead was the entrance to the medical bay. They could already hear the noise inside as Knockout and Breakdown were undoubtedly working to save the wounded. There had been no overestimating the severity of the situation today. Starscream was glad he'd told the drone to stay on board.

They reached the doors and Starscream paused to glance inside. It was sheer chaos, and it made him feel strange.

"Starscream, you're not thinking of having your arm re-attached before being debriefed, are you?" Megatron commanded. Starscream had all but forgotten that he was carrying his missing arm. He'd managed to slip away from the raid for a few minutes to retrieve it, where it lay not far off. He'd been lucky to find it still there.

"Of course not, my Lord. In any case I had planned on waiting until tomorrow. There seems to be a great deal of congestion in the bay at present."

Megatron made a small noise of amusement. "How unlike you to think of the convenience of others."

"No, I was…" he was going to use his missing arm as an excuse to get Steve to wash him again. Not that he needed the excuse if he wanted the drone, but it had been fun being doted on like an invalid. "I was… I'm just not fond of all of that noise and energon spilled everywhere. It's rather…" But Megatron had gone back to instructing Soundwave. Starscream kept his mouth shut.

The rest of the debriefing was held in a meeting room, and it felt to Starscream like it was lasting for an eternity.

"Starscream!"

Starscream sat up, breaking out of his internal replay of the evening before.

"How must I get you to focus?" Megatron growled. "I asked you what happened today. It was the same as this. I trust you recall?"

Starscream spoke as graciously as he could. "Yes my Lord, I recall. Please accept my sincerest apology. I admit I had difficulty recharging last night."

That was a lie. He'd slept like a sparkling after the hard overloads Steve had given him.

Megatron narrowed his optics. "Tell me, what was it that so thoroughly distracted you from carrying out my simple orders?"

He knew exactly what had distracted him. The Prime had charged out of the ground bridge, and had begun firing at the eradicons on his way to Megatron. His cannon had blown a hole right through a drone standing near Starscream, and when he fell, Starscream couldn't pull his optics away. That same frame type had held him so carefully only hours before. He hadn't been able to move until another eradicon pulled him behind a rock.

"I can only say that my lack of charge inhibited me for a moment. I assure you it was nothing to be worried about."

Soundwave turned to Megatron, a video recording playing on his screen. Starscream was angled so he could see, and his internals churned when he saw the recording of the Prime charging forward, shooting at the eradicons. Starscream fumed. Stupid, slagger, tattle-tale Soundwave.

Soundwave's speakers played back the noise of the gunfire, Prime's cannon blast causing Starscream's wings to twitch. Megatron studied his SIC. He leaned back in his chair, sighing with unkind exasperation.

"I am not worried, that I can promise. I am disappointed. I do not have the time nor patience for your constant emotional instability. You have been up against Optimus Prime enough times to have overcome any irrational fear of him. I never ask you to face him personally, and yet here you are, thousands of years after the war has begun, quaking from the very sound of his cannon fire. Your incompetence is astounding."

Starscream had his optics on the table. "Forgive me, my Lord."

"Just get out. Recharge early, because I expect you to be competent and fully functional tomorrow."

Starscream stood. "Yes, my Lord." He started to turn but stopped himself. On the rare occasion that Megatron's sex drive did surface, it was often after a battle. "Do you... require my further assistance with anything this evening?"

"No."

Starscream nodded silently and left. When the door shut behind him he tightened his fist around the detached arm. He was furious at that meddling Soundwave, at stupid Megatron and especially at the damned drone who had caused all of this trouble. It was his fault Starscream had been distracted lately, and it was his fault that Starscream had been feeling so confused. He'd punish him for this.

But then he imagined the eradicon, and the idea of punishment took on a new meaning. He started to feel better, thinking of him trembling as he shouted, stuttering as Starscream forced him to say he was a bad boy. Starscream grinned, already feeling elated. Frag the odd feelings, and frag Megatron. He wasn't about to deny himself of this new amusement for the good opinion of his lord, an opinion which he was past caring about anyway.

He stopped at his quarters to drop off his arm before heading to the eradicon's living area. He could've had him summoned, but it would be more fun to catch him by surprise and see what he would be up to on his day off.

In the hall he ran into a passing drone. "Hey, you."

The drone straightened. "Commander Starscream, sir!"

"Tell me where Steve is."

"He would be in the medical bay, sir."

Starscream blinked. "Is he helping with the wounded? Can't someone else take his place? Can you do it? You don't look busy."

The drone hesitated. "Sir, he's being treated there. He was wounded in battle."

"That's impossible," Starscream said rather loudly. "You must be thinking of another Steve."

"I uh..." The drone looked increasingly uncomfortable. "There is only one Steve, sir. ST-3V3."

Starscream took a step backward before turning to run. He dashed down the hall, processor blanking as he rushed to the medical bay. He finally reached, sliding to a stop before entering. The bay was quieter now, the drones sedated and either recharging or being worked on. There were also two with drop cloths over them.

Knockout looked up from where he was working on a drone. He smiled calmly, a hint of exhaustion slipping through. "Commander Starscream, how can I be of service?"

"I'm looking for an eradicon. ST-3V3."

Knockout looked around at them. Like the rest of the officers, he was unable to tell them apart. "I'm not sure. I can look it up."

"No, I'll just..." Starscream moved around the room, looking at the scratches on the various drones. None of them had Steve's crescent scratch. He looked at the drop cloths covering the offlined drones and hesitated. "Knockout, could you... look it up?"

"Certainly." Knockout nodded to an assistant vehicon who brought him a data pad. "ST what?"

"ST-3V3."

He scrolled through it. "Oh. That one is gone."

Starscream's intakes hitched. "Gone?"

"Yes. He had a hole blown through his ankle, and I had to replace his foot and ankle joint and re-wire it. I released him a short while ago."

He breathed deeply. "Oh."

"What did you need him for?"

"Uh..."

"Because I put a brace on him and I doubt he'll be walking for a few solar cycles. If you needed him for an errand, I'd suggest finding another."

Starscream composed himself. "Very well. Thank you, doctor."

"Any time."

To be continued.


	7. Chapter 7

Come on guys! I would never kill Steve.

7

Starscream's moment of terror had been quickly replaced by anger as he walked to the eradicon living area. He turned a corner down the hall where rows of doors led to their personal quarters. There were a few drones in the hall, two of which were helping a third into his room. Starscream caught sight of the leg brace and hurried after them. The door had slid closed and he knocked hard. It opened again and a vehicon looked at him with surprise.

"Move!" he said, pushing past the vehicon into the cramped little room. Steve sat on the edge of the berth, the other drone standing near. Steve froze. Starscream took one look at his leg and slapped him on the face.

"How dare you!" he bellowed, "How dare you disobey my orders!" The other two fled from the room as quickly as they could. "You are a drone! You are supposed to follow my orders without question, without thinking! How presumptuous of you to think that you had a choice in the matter, that you could do whatever you wanted, that you could just go out there-"

Steve snapped. "What else could I do!" he shouted back. He stood so quickly that Starscream jumped back in surprise, bumping against the desk behind him. "Would you expect me to sit here while Megatron sent you into battle like this? Look at you! You're missing an arm!" Steve had moved forward, leaning on his good leg. "I have volunteered to be beside you in every battle, and you think I could just let you go incapacitated? I could never! And thank Primus I didn't. What were you doing, staring at that dead mech? If I hadn't dragged you behind the rock you could have been shot! The Prime could have killed you! If you want to go to battle without me, you will have to lock me up or beat me until I can't follow you!"

Starscream leaned back against the desk, Steve leaning over him. He was too surprised to speak. The silence was deafening.

Steve pulled back slowly. "I'm so sorry, Commander." He said it softly, his tone betraying how shocked he was at himself. "I raised my voice at you. I can't believe..."

He pulled back farther, but Starscream followed him like a magnet. He kissed the drone, crushing his mouth against his plating. Starscream put his hand behind Steve's neck, pressing his body flush against the eradicon's. Steve was too surprised to respond. Starscream pulled away and pressed his lips against him again, kissing him where there was no mouth to kiss. He couldn't have cared less.

He felt tentative hands come up to his waist, reverently ghosting over his plating. Starscream deepened the kiss and the soldier's hands responded, tightening against him. Steve leaned into the kiss, pushing his Commander further against the desk.

"Steve..." Starscream panted. There were things he wanted to say, but he wasn't ready to speak them aloud. It was too much, too strong, more than he thought anyone could feel in so short a time.

He opened his optics and noticed the drone's awkward stance; he had all of his weight on one leg. Starscream pushed him back gently, helping him to the berth. Steve didn't have much time to situate himself before Starscream climbed on and straddled him.

Starscream looked down at the drone, drinking in the sight of him. He watched Steve's chest rise and fall as he cycled air. With little to no access to paint and dent repair, soldiers were rugged. His optics trailed from one scratch to the next, the silver lines curving and criss crossing over his body. He would memorize them, and learn to know Steve from the others.

He bent forward to give the drone another kiss, rewarded by those hands holding onto his thighs, sliding up to his hips, driving him mad. Starscream could feel his valve lubricating. He felt empty, desperate for Steve to fill him again. He was ravenous.

Starscream moved to his neck cabling, kisses turning to nips and bites which sent shivers down the eradicon's frame. Starscream pressed his denta against Steve's chest plating, scratching off paint as he dragged them together. He looked up at Steve, making sure he was watching as he licked away the purple enamel.

Steve groaned, digits tightening around Starscream's hips. A stifling wave of heat drifted from the con's frame, his fans coming to life. That's when a thought occurred to Starscream. Steve had likely only interfaced with other eradicons. And like him, none of them had mouths. Did that mean no one had ever kissed him before? No mouth had touched him, no one had ever… Starscream smiled. He slid his glossa against him again, eliciting another shiver.

"You like that?" he whispered.

"Y-Yes Commander…"

Starscream took his hand, closing his mouth around the end of one of Steve's digits. He slid it deeper, unconsciously grinding his hips against the drone as he did so. Eradicons had long digits, but Starscream was talented in this area. When his mouth met the knuckle joint, the drone's panel snapped open beneath him.

Starscream pulled out the digit. "Slide up."

Steve did what he was told and Starscream slid himself down. He settled between Steve's legs, taking his heated spike in his hand. He brushed his lips along the side, the corners of his mouth curling into a smile as he looked up at him. He really liked to please a lover this way, but he hadn't done it willingly since Megatron had called him a slut for admitting it.

Starscream licked his spike from the base to the tip before taking it in his mouth. He moved his helm down slowly and Steve groaned.

"Oh Primus, that feels amazing."

Starscream dipped down deeper until the spike was hitting the back of his throat. The feeling made him dizzy with need. He closed his legs, rubbing his knees together. The inside of his interface panel was undoubtedly wet by now.

Steve groaned again, and Starscream caught sight of his digits digging into the berth cushioning. "C-Commander…" he said breathlessly, "what should I be doing?"

Starscream would have smiled if his mouth wasn't full. He commed him. '_You should relax and enjoy it._'

Steve nodded. Starscream quickened his pace, drawing more noises from the drone. He pulled out and went down again as far as he could. Every moan and pant from Steve reminded him how much he liked sucking spike. Steve rocked his hips reflexively, and the feel of his spike pushing in caused Starscream's interface panel to click open. It was a sharp, unmistakable noise. If he didn't have his only hand holding himself up, he would have been tempted to touch himself.

"Could..."

Starscream looked up at him and pulled out. "Huh?"

"N-Never mind."

Starscream was curious. "What is it?" He didn't get an answer, so he gave Steve's spike a little squeeze. "Tell me."

"Ah, o-okay uh… could um…" Steve was really nervous about whatever he wanted. Starscream was very curious, but did his best to be patient. He liked hearing Steve stumble over himself. "Would you… um… would you 69 with me?"

Starscream was suddenly embarrassed for not knowing what that meant. "What is that, some kind of silly drone code for something?"

"Not uh, not exactly. I'll show you."

Steve sat up a little and put his hands out for Starscream to come closer; helping him lift his leg over to Steve's other side. Starscream's face plate heated up as he realized what Steve wanted to do. When they'd finished moving around, Starscream had his legs open over Steve's helm and he was facing downward. This was far kinkier than he'd expected from Steve.

He jumped a little as he felt Steve's digits brush over his valve. "Is this okay, Commander?"

"It's fine," Starscream said, still embarrassed that he hadn't known about this. He made himself relax, and took Steve's spike in his mouth. He felt Steve's hands sliding over his thigh plating, encouraging him to spread his legs a little to lower himself down. He complied, continuing what he was doing while Steve shifted a little. He heard a familiar hum start up in his engine.

The contact made him jolt. Steve rubbed the lower part of his face plating against Starscream's port, that torturously good vibration sinking into his insides. Starscream whimpered around Steve's spike, which caused his engine to roar a little harder. As they went down on each other, Starscream had to concentrate hard to continue what he was doing. Steve was _so _good at this. He could feel the drone's hands on his legs, sliding up, tracing the seams on his hips where the plating ran up into two points. His digits dipped into the joints, brushing lightly over sensitive cabling, stroking, teasing. He whimpered again and felt Steve shake beneath him in response.

Starscream's processor was swimming. He felt himself getting close and pulled out. "Steve," he managed to say, "I'd like to last more than five minutes this time."

"Oh sorry."

"It's fine," Starscream said as he climbed off. "At least if I overloaded quickly this time it wouldn't be in front of the whole…" He stared at Steve, who had Starscream's lubricant all over his mouth area and running down the sides of his face plating. Starscream was mortified. "Oh primus!" Quickly he ran his digits over Steve's plating to wipe up the mess. Steve laughed lightly and used one of his hands to help him.

"Don't laugh at me!"

Steve froze. "I-I wasn't laughing at you…"

"Who else is here for you to laugh at?"

"I'm sorry! It was just… I didn't… I didn't know you were so cute."

Starscream's mouth twitched a little. He climbed onto Steve. "I've been called a lot of things, but never that. Now I'm going to punish you for laughing at me." He aligned himself and slowly sunk down onto Steve's spike.

Steve gasped and Starscream shut his optics, relishing the feeling of being filled. He stayed there for a moment, adjusting. Then he rose up and sheathed himself again.

Steve groaned, rocking his hips. But Starscream put his hand on his hips to hold him down. "No. Don't thrust."

Steve looked up at him, not speaking. Starscream raised himself so only the very tip was still inside, and slid him back inside with painful slowness. Steve let out a little noise, his leg jerking.

"Don't," Starscream warned.

He continued this way, up and down, up and down, at a torturously sluggish pace.

Steve groaned, helm falling back against the berth. Starscream almost felt bad for him. The pace was killing him as well, but he wanted to torture him as long as he could. He felt his inner cabling tighten around his valve reflexively from the sensation. Steve nearly growled, hands flying to his hips, digits digging in. Starscream's optics narrowed and Steve resisted pulling him down.

Starscream continued to ride him slowly, angling his hips forward to get his spike rubbing him in new places. Oh, holy primus, did that feel good. He panted twice and let out a little whine.

"Ahh, I can't take it... Please Commander…" Steve begged.

Starscream was disappointed in himself, but his resolve was gone. "Alright, do what you want."

Steve pulled him down. With quick and surprising agility he flipped them over so Starscream was on his back. The seeker gasped with surprise. Steve thrust into him and he cried out. He did it again and again, Starscream crying with each pounding thrust into his valve. Steve kept his chest close to Starscream's, vocals groaning and growling against his neck cables.

Steve pulled one of Starscream's legs up over his shoulder, and the position hit something in Starscream that hadn't been hit before. He gasped. "Ah, Primus! Harder… just… more…!"

Steve fucked him hard, back bent over Starscream as his hips slammed forward. Starscream clawed at his back, whimpering and panting.

"Commander…!"

"Nghh ahh just… call me-"

"Starscream," Steve groaned into his audial. He buried his face in his neck. "Starscream… Starscream…"

The seeker's optics widened as he hit his breaking point. His optics shut again and he arched up, crying out in an overload. He couldn't believe it was his own vocals screaming out so loudly, but he couldn't stop himself. He heard Steve gasp and felt the tremor run through him as he followed, the heat of his transfluid filling him. He finally had to cover his own mouth to stifle his vocals.

They stayed where they were for a moment, panting as their fans whirred to keep them from overheating. Finally Steve pulled out, and Starscream winced as he unbent his legs. He moved over for Steve. He lay on his side, wings stretched off the end of the bed out into the room. He rested his head on Steve's shoulder, a leg swung over one of the eradicon's knee joints.

'Wow," Steve said. "You're amazing."

"I know," Starscream breathed, not able to believe how good Steve was at interfacing. Not that he would admit it now. He was still mad at Steve for various reasons, but he was having trouble remembering what they were.

"Will um… will Megatron notice you're gone?"

"Pssh, no. When he wants me, he comms me. I don't think he's seen the inside of my quarters in two cycles. Why, trying to give me a reason to leave?"

"Uh, wha, no! I…" He stopped, just brushing his digits over Starscream's shoulders.

"Are you requesting I stay the night?" Starscream asked in an even tone.

"Yes."

"Okay. Move over then. This berth is ridiculous for two."

Steve slid closer to the wall and Starscream scooted with him, draping his arm over Steve's chest. That's when he remembered last night. He reached up and kissed him. "Good night, Steve."

"Good night Commander," Steve said in a funny way, like he was surprised. Starscream was too relaxed and exhausted to think about it further. He drifted off into a deep recharge.

To be continued.

Tell me your every feel.


	8. Chapter 8

8

They abruptly onlined from the sound of banging at the door. Starscream shifted, warm and comfortable against the eradicon. He checked his internal clock. It was far too early for anything scheduled the day after a raid. He groaned as someone banged again.

"Steve, get up already!" someone shouted.

Steve sighed and Starscream stretched languidly against him. "Who is that?" he grumbled.

"That's 404, sir."

"Are you online?" 404 called.

"_I am now_," Steve called out with irritation.

"He's your friend, right?" Starscream asked under his breath.

"Yes, Commander."

"Then I'll spare him." Starscream leaned up to kiss him. Steve wrapped an arm around his waist.

"Wow," Steve breathed. "This morning couldn't be more perfect."

His friend continued to bang at the door and Starscream frowned. "Yes it could."

"Steve, get up and tell me what happened! The walls are thin around here, ya know. When I heard you shouting at the Commander I thought your processor had short circuited. It's time for you to get out here and explain how that lead to the longest frag I ever heard instead of a brutal decommission. You two were at it so long we'd all gone to recharge before he even left."

Starscream chuckled, tracing the seams of Steve's hull. Steve had a servo covering his face plating. "Commander, please let me get rid of him."

"No, I'm enjoying it."

"And Primus," 404 continued in a snarky tone, "the Commander sure has some set of vocals. We could hear him two rooms down."

The smile fell from Starscream's mouth.

"I mean, he was louder last night than in the wash rack! What did you do to him? I'm going to have to try it on B-"

"Oookay that's enough!" Steve said loudly, shouting over him. Steve started to sit up but Starscream stopped him.

"I'll get it," Starscream said with a wry smile. He went to the door and tapped the control for it to open. He took a step out to see a vehicon leaning against the wall beside the door, arms crossed casually. The moment he spotted Starscream he jerked into a straight stance.

"C-Commander Starscream!"

Starscream examined his digits. "Would _I _be able to answer any of your questions?"

"No sir," he said quickly. At least he knew a rhetorical question when he heard one.

"Well then come back later. There are still hours of recharge left to be had."

Starscream turned and signaled the door to shut behind him. Steve was trying not to laugh. He smirked, draping himself over the drone. He settled right on top of him this time, helm tilted on his chest. Steve's digits rested on the bases of his wings, a touch that was light enough to soothe him without turning him on. Soon they had fallen into recharge.

And no more than minutes later came another knock at the door. Starscream groaned. "The insubordination."

"That's it," Steve said. He tried to get up but Starscream wouldn't have any of it.

"You're injured and I'm not going to lay here while you limp around. Just stay put." Starscream went to the door and hit the controls rather hard this time.

The door slid open and Starscream stood face to face with Soundwave.

Starscream's internals choked. "What are you doing here?" he asked, but he knew it didn't matter.

Soundwave played a voice recording. "Starscream has been acting suspicious lately," the recording of Megatron said, "I want you to find out if he has any new plans for mutiny. I'd rather not have to watch my back any more than I already do."

Soundwave started to leave and Starscream followed him hastily. "How did you find out?" he asked, still stunned that this was happening.

Knockout's vocals played out of Soundwave. "Soundwave, Starscream was looking for a vehicon. ST-3V3 was his title, I think. He needed him for something. If you see him could you tell him I found the drone's room number? It's E17."

Starscream clenched his dentas. Typical that something so innocent could result in this. That was his luck. "Soundwave, be reasonable. You don't have to do this."

Soundwave ignored him as he walked.

"I could do something for you. Anything. Is there anything you need?" But there was nothing he could imagine Soundwave wanting or needing.

"As a favor! I could return the favor in the future, if you ever need anything! Anything at all. Any grunt work that you need done, all you'd have to do is tell me. Please! Point me in the right direction. I'll do anything. Please don't tell Lord Megatron."

Still he ignored him.

Starscream began to panic as he followed the unwavering intelligence officer. He looked back to see that Steve had come to the door and was watching after them.

"Tell him I've been fragging the drones!" he blurted out in a panic. "Tell him I hook up with a different mech every time."

Soundwave stopped walking. He turned to Starscream. Starscream waited, but Soundwave didn't respond. He was waiting for an explanation.

"It could be true, for all you know," Starscream said slowly. "You don't even have to think of it as a lie. It's just a little exaggeration. Please."

Soundwave looked behind Starscream, undoubtedly at the drone standing in the hall. Knockout's recorded voice repeated itself. "ST-3V3 was his title, I think."

Starscream stepped in front of him, protectively blocking his view of the drone. Soundwave faced him and he felt himself cower under the scrutiny of the empty black face screen. He looked away. "Please. Don't mention any specific drones. Just... just tell him there were many. That'll distract him from caring which."

Soundwave cocked his head at Starscream inquisitively, studying the Second in Command. And then he spoke with his very own vocals. "Assignment: determine chance of mutiny. Result: no conclusive evidence."

Soundwave turned and continued on his way.

"Wait, you're not going to tell him?"

"Negative."

Soundwave turned the corner and left. Starscream's intakes cycled quickly, trying to subside the panic. He would have to reassess his opinion of Soundwave.

To be continued.

...Oh Soundwave.


	9. Chapter 9

I feel it's necessary to explain why my chapters are short. I don't intend them to be any particular length, I just split them up when the moment in the story seems right. This happened to be a short moment and I'm sorry. Please don't be mad.

9

Starscream and Megatron had once truly been infatuated with one another. When Megatron had queried Starscream, he had told him that no one was more exquisite and clever than Starscream, no one more fitting to stand by Megatron as his mate and Second in Command. And Starscream was enthralled with him the same way countless Cybertronians were.

The real problems in their bonded life surfaced soon after. Megatron was never satisfied with Starscream's work, and Starscream was coming to realize that being Second in Command was not enough. It did, however, take him a while to realize the severity of a bond. Forever really meant forever and he was bonded to Megatron as long as they were both online.

Being the one warming the great Lord Megatron's berth was a novelty that had long since worn off for Starscream. It was always assumed that the great lord was as skilled in the berth as he was on the battle field, and it was true. But it was only true when Megatron cared for it to be. When they lost their taste for each other, interfacing became rough, uncreative, and this evening, unmercifully long.

Starscream was on his hands and knees, gripping the berth padding to stay in place as Megatron grunted behind him. He winced at the feel of Megatron's claws digging into his plating, the too-dry pounding of a spike in him. Megatron hadn't bothered to do anything to coax him into lubricating. The minimal amount of lubricant wasn't enough to keep his valve from being chafed raw. It hurt now and it would hurt more tomorrow.

A small squeak slipped out Starscream's vocals, to his dismay. "M-Master… Please have mercy… Ah!"

Megatron gave him a hard thrust. "Why should I? This is punishment, after all."

"My Lord, I thought we resolved ngh… it in the command center."

"You're lucky I'm not pounding my fist into your face plating. Dodging my blow like that cost my Intelligence Officer his face screen. Who knows how long it will take for Knockout to have Soundwave actively working again? That mech is more useful in a day than you are in a season."

Starscream bit back a whine. He sagged a little, giving in and just trying to bear it. He closed his optics, processor trying to focus on something outside of the berth chamber. A vehicon he'd met in the wash racks a month ago crossed his mind. Last he'd seen him he had been in the command central, shouting orders at a handful of drones.

"_Drone, have you finished yet?" he snapped at a vehicon at the controls. Megatron was busy working out the code on the large overhead screen, so Starscream came closer to the vehicon. He leaned over him to look at the monitor, brushing his hull against the vehicon's shoulder. _

"_A-Almost..." the drone said nervously. _

"_Well hurry up," Starscream ordered, a digit tracing the crescent scar across the mech's chest. "Don't take all day. There are other things that need to be _done_ before the cycle is through."_

Starscream felt himself relax a little. His memory replay moved forward to later that evening.

_He'd been in a similar position on a different berth, biting his bottom lip as the drone came up behind him. A careful hand slid up his wing, a digit rubbing over the tip._

Starscream let out a small moan, surprising himself. He gritted his denta when Megatron chuckled.

"Enjoying yourself, Starscream?"

"No."

Megatron just laughed. Starscream tried to shut down his processor again, reaching back to the memory.

_The drone pulled him back, heated frame pressing flush against his own from behind. Starscream rocked his hips back, valve aching with need. Obliging digits filled him, eliciting a breathy croon from his vocals. _

Starscream's optics opened suddenly when he realized he'd made the noise aloud again, quite a bit louder than the last. Megatron began to thrust a little slower, distracted by the sound. It was awkward for both of them since Megatron hadn't been able to get pleasured noises out of the seeker in ages.

It was probably bad to let the little fantasy continue, but the reality was less tolerable. He drifted.

_He slid back further, his lover's hands guiding his hips to angle in just the right way. _

"_Spread your legs a little farther, Commander," a comforting voice said. Starscream nodded, obligingly moving his knee joints apart. He lowered himself, slowly sinking his valve around the drone's thick spike. _

Starscream managed to contain his vocals, but his body was still reacting. He felt his valve lubricating, the slide of Megatron's spike becoming more and more smooth.

_His processor skipped a few minutes until they'd achieved a rhythm. Starscream had moved forward on his hands and knees, crying out with each thrust of the drone's hips. He rolled his hips with expertise, knowing just the right angles to hit the seeker's sensory nodes. Starscream whimpered his name, rocking back again and again to meet his thrusts. He was getting close._

But his tightening valve brought Megatron even closer. He pounded him harder and Starscream whimpered, still sore from the rough start. Megatron shoved Starscream's helm down into the padding to smother the noise. Starscream's internals choked from the suffocation and indignation of it.

Finally the lord grunted, claws sinking deeper as he overloaded. He held there for a moment before pulling his claws away and letting go of his helm. Starscream gasped, intakes whirring for new air.

Megatron rolled over to lie on his back. Starscream sunk against the padding, turning away to get the warlord out of his vision. He closed his optics and counted the minutes until he'd see Steve.

To be continued.


	10. Chapter 10

10

Night after night Starscream would intend on recharging in his own quarters. But inevitably he would find himself walking toward the eradicons' wing and crawling into Steve's warm berth.

It was very late in the evening. He slipped out of his quarters and treaded into the eradicon living area. A few late-goers lingered in the hall, straightening and giving him a small, respectful bow as he passed. He waved them off, finding it ridiculous to keep up pretenses when they had likely already either seen or heard him committing something undignified.

Steve was still up when he entered, typing away at a small computer unit at his desk. He promptly minimized his window and stood as Starscream entered. Starscream draped himself on the berth and sighed.

"I don't feel like interfacing tonight," he said decidedly. He still ached from Megatron's little power show earlier that evening. Explaining that it wasn't his fault might make Steve feel more at ease, but talking about being in the berth with Megatron wasn't his favorite topic. He liked to pretend Steve didn't think about it. Who knows, maybe he didn't.

"I'm glad you still came, Commander," Steve said, sitting on the edge of the berth. He rubbed Starscream's lower back paneling.

Starscream sighed. "How in the blazing pit do you do that?"

"Do what, Commander?"

"Know when my back aches. Or any part of me, really. You always seem to know."

"Oh, just your posture. And the way you walk or stand. Your wings fall when your back hurts. And if your ankle hurts you usually lean on your other leg and keep your toe back."

Starscream felt almost disturbed by his insight. "And if my arm hurts?"

"You lace your digits behind your back."

"And my neck?"

"You straighten your back and lower your head slightly."

The seeker scowled. "Am I really so predictable?"

Steve straightened. "Oh no, Commander! I've just been... paying attention for a long time."

Starscream studied him. "Can you tell when I'm in need?" Steve's hand paused against him. He looked hesitant. Starscream turned onto his side to face him, encouraging him with a smile. "Well?"

Steve took a moment to gather his courage, then lowered his voice. "You're in constant motion. Even when you're standing still, your frame sways. Your wings move so slowly that no one would notice if they weren't paying attention. But I can't help it. I'll watch your wings spread out to the sides then pull tightly together. It amazes me that no one else sees. Your frame keeps moving, pacing slowly, a servo sliding along the edge of the controls as you walk by."

Starscream, whose digits had been rubbing against the side of his thigh, pulled them away self-consciously. Steve's hand had continued it's rubbing from his back to his side.

"And your knees..."

Starscream's legs froze, and he realized his knee joints had been rubbing together. When Steve's fans came on, he pulled his hand away and stood. He looked at Starscream sheepishly, body language speaking for him. "Sorry Commander, I said too much." He rubbed the back of his helm, looking like he needed to cool off. He sat at his desk, putting a little space between them.

Starscream wasn't in much better shape, but there was no way he'd live it down if his fans kicked on right after he'd said he wasn't in the mood. He wondered morbidly if Steve could tell when he'd been with Megatron. He didn't want to know, and decided to try and change the subject.

"So what are you doing?" Starscream asked, gesturing to the computer. "I've caught you playing on the computer before. What is there for one to do with the limited content available on the Nemesis?"

"The eradicons use the Earth's grid, Commander."

Starscream smirked. "Really? What could be amusing there? I do hear some mechs like their music. Knockout certainly does."

"Yes Commander..." Steve said, sounding unsure. Finally he expanded the window he'd hidden before.

Starscream sat up, reading the English text curiously. "A University?"

"Yes, sir. I'm um... taking the online courses."

"You're going to school?" Starscream laughed. "What for?"

"International Politics, sir. Well, and Governmental Science, Sociology and Psychology. And I've been reading up on some history courses too."

Starscream had sobered. This was certainly not something he expected a drone to be doing on his free time. Then again, Steve never failed to surprise him. "Why? What's the point?"

"Well you know, the drones didn't exactly get the best education. I mean, Shockwave built us to fight, not to think. There's so much out there to know and I'm always curious why people do what they do." Steve fidgeted nervously, and Starscream rubbed his hull plating encouragingly. He wanted to know more. "I feel like if I study enough, I could understand Cybertron's fall. I could know what went wrong so I can see it coming if it happens again. I know it's stupid, it's not like a vehicon could do anything about it even if I knew what was going on. I still like to know though."

Starscream felt a strange sense of pride and excitement over Steve's endeavor to learn. "When I'm lead..." He paused, still not sure if he wanted to go there. He trusted the mech, but he'd never shared this with anyone.

"When you're leader of the Decepticons?" Steve asked, matter-of-factly, as if it could happen tomorrow. Starscream felt his face paneling heat.

"_If_..." Starscream corrected himself, "_If_ I were to be leader of the Decepticons, I would make you my second in command. And when the war is over, I'd start a new colony and you would advise me."

Steve laughed hard. "A drone as second in command? Commander I believe in you, but I can't imagine that."

"Well then leave the imagining up to me," Starscream said.

xxxx

The halls were flooded with soldiers as they returned from battle. The officers were among them, some more pleased than others. Breakdown seemed nonchalant as he listened to Knockout rage about the slagging old medic carving a new constellation into his finish. Two of the last to return were Megatron with Soundwave ever by his side. Megatron was probably the most pleased of them all, carrying the large weapon they'd managed to slip out from the Autobot's grasp.

Starscream felt exhilarated. It had been a while since he'd stretched his wings, and this open-field battle had given him ample opportunity to do so. He strode ahead of the other officers and through the crowd of soldiers.

Ahead he found Steve, easily recognizing him by his voice. He and another vehicon had draped themselves over an eradicon comrade, pretending to be too exhausted to go on. The eradicon swayed as they pulled him each way, onlookers laughing at the scene.

Starscream approached quietly from behind. He gave Steve a firm squeeze on the aft, which made the drone jump with a yelp. Starscream, who had slipped ahead of the trio, turned back to grin at him before heading off toward the meeting room. The last thing he heard were the laughs and teasing snickers from his friends.

Soon the officers met up with him in the meeting room. Megatron set the weapon on the center table.

"Now I intend on studying this and having it active before the solar cycle is through. Are there any volunteers to try it out?"

They all knew he would choose someone if there were none in the next two seconds. Starscream stepped forward, still feeling cocky from the war zone. After all, it was a weapon, not a self-harming device. "I'll volunteer if it pleases you, my Lord."

The war lord looked around. "Anyone else?" Megatron asked. Starscream blinked and stepped back, unsure of his motives. Breakdown volunteered next and approached the table. As he lifted the device, Megatron moved toward Starscream. "I need you in optimal health for this evening," he said. "You will be in my quarters on exactly the 21st hour." He looked at the seeker with a sinister smile.

Starscream lowered his optics in feigned submission and gave a single nod.

xxxx

Starscream was in a testy mood by the time he headed to Megatron's quarters. Steve wasn't in his room when he went looking for him, and none of his friends were around to point Starscream in the right direction. Yes, it was much earlier than their usual meeting time, but not having him whenever he wanted was still annoying. He was likely partying with that 404 and whoever else.

He wouldn't have even minded sharing him, sitting on his lap while Steve chatted with the other soldiers. He knew they could be an entertaining bunch from the moments he caught them off guard. If he brought a little high grade, maybe he could get them to loosen up around him.

But here he was after a hard day's work, heading to get fragged by Megatron without having had any time spent where he wanted to spend it. He went through the main doors, and headed through the large, high ceilinged room that was Megatron's private wing. He padded through to the smaller doors to his berth room. The doors slid open.

Starscream stopped at the entrance, unable to move any further toward the sight. Megatron lounged back on a large chair beside his berth. It was the true stance of a lord, one elbow joint propped on the arm of the chair, his servo raised for him to rest his chin. Megatron looked at his spark mate with knowing optics. Starscream's gaze lowered slowly, fearfully, to Steve, who knelt on the floor at Megatron's feet.

To be continued.


	11. Chapter 11

Guys, thank you for taking the time to review! I love when you describe your feels.

11

"Tell me, Starscream, what do you have to say for yourself?" Megatron asked, still leaning on his arm.

Steve shifted nervously where he knelt. His wrists were locked in cuffs. He was undamaged, but Starscream was sure that Megatron was waiting to have his mate bear witness to anything he inflicted on the drone. He felt like he was sinking. There was no way, no doubt in his mind that Steve was not going to live to walk out of this room.

"I'd say you have a drone on the floor," he replied. Megatron didn't smile. Apparently there would be no games today. Starscream continued uneasily. "I assume Soundwave told you?"

"Soundwave?" Megatron laughed, and then his vocals rolled into a bellow. "IT WOULD HAVE BEEN A BLESSING IF SOUNDWAVE TOLD ME!" He leapt to his feet, knocking Steve to the side as he closed the distance between them in two strides. He grabbed Starscream's upper arms, pulling him close as he roared. "It would have spared me the humiliation if you'd been secretive about whoring yourself out, but no! I suffered seeing you with my own optics on multiple occasions, with your servos all over my soldiers!"

So Megatron thought Starscream had been touching various eradicons? It was true then, that even Lord Megatron couldn't tell them apart.

"And I was left wondering, am I the ONLY ONE on the Nemesis who didn't know you were opening your legs for a bunch of disposable drones?"

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Steve's helm lower with shame. Megatron shoved Starscream away, who lost his balance and fell to the floor. He whirled around on Steve. "You! Tell me now, how many of you worthless scraps have spiked my property?"

Megatron had a number in mind of soldiers that he could spare. Lower than that number and he would publicly execute all of the offending drones who had touched his seeker. Higher, and he would withhold energon until the army punished the offenders in his stead.

"Who could keep count?" Starscream cut in as he got up off the floor. "I suppose being called a slut enough times when I wasn't encouraged me to lower myself to your expectations." Starscream felt his anger escalating out of control. "Or maybe you just don't give me what I need."

Megatron's optics darkened, his face a calm mask over his inner turbulence. "Don't mistake me for trying, Starscream. I simply don't care what you need. What I care about is that you do what you're told, and keep yourself from embarrassing me. Now you don't do either."

Internally, Megatron was furiously mortified. If Starscream had the audacity to say this to his face, he'd undoubtedly said it to every drone he had gone to berth with. Even without trying, Megatron should be satisfying Starscream more than any soldier could! He was in morbid and desperate need to know how this could be. He turned on the drone.

"You will interface the seeker. Now."

"Wh-what?"

Megatron leaned over him. "You will fuck him, or I will fuck you myself."

He had to make this happen. To make it happen would be to make it his, and then he would be in control once more. But Starscream couldn't understand. What motive did Megatron have for wanting to watch this? It would only enrage him further. And then the idea hit him. There was still almost no chance, what with Steve having been alone with Megatron and Starscream with no clue as to what had been said between them. This could be the most humiliating thing he would ever do, but if there was even the smallest glimmer of hope, he would reach for it.

"So you want a show?" Starscream asked. "You want to see what I do with the soldiers away from your watchful optic?" Starscream looked at Steve. "Drone! Get on the berth!" Steve rose from the floor slowly and Starscream snapped at him. "Faster!"

Steve flinched and climbed onto the large berth. His helm turned for a moment to Megatron, who went back to the large seat. Starscream swayed passed him and slipped onto the berth beside the vehicon. He had the perfect, devious poker face, but inside Starscream couldn't calm down. He hadn't done this since he was young and it had never been a good experience. Who knows if he could even do it at all? He'd kept this section of his interface equipment inactive for ages.

He looked the drone over showily, slowly pushing him onto his back. As Steve leaned back on the berth padding, Starscream felt himself stir. Steve looked _good_, helplessly laying there in a set of cuffs. He brought his helm down to lick his lover's chest plating, watching Megatron as he did so. The war lord's optics narrowed.

"Now, show me that delicious little valve of yours," Starscream purred to the drone beneath him.

Steve hesitated with surprise, but was too smart to question him. Starscream heard his interface panel slide open. He opened his own, having to concentrate to extend his spike. At least he could still do that much.

"Wait," Megatron said. The pair turned in surprise as Megatron burst out laughing. It was not a happy or vindictive laugh, just amused and demeaning. "Is this what it's all about, Starscream? You want to play the dominant?" Megatron laughed harder and Starscream scowled. "You've been picking out drones for a little harem of sorts, haven't you?"

Starscream sat up, back rigid. "Have you seen enough then, my Liege? Shall I go?"

"On the contrary," Megatron said, his mood having shifted from angry to entertained. There was no telling exactly what was going on in the warlord's processor, but Starscream knew, at least, that their situation was just a little less dire than it was before. "I insist you stay."

Starscream glared a moment longer before turning his attention back where he wanted it. He bent forward to lick at the collar seam of Steve's chest, enjoying the familiar taste of him. But Steve was unresponsive, and upon pressing himself closer, Starscream realized how tense his frame was.

"It's okay," he said. Almost immediately he glanced at Megatron, not wanting him detecting any affection. So he took Steve's jaw and turned him to face their leader. "There's no need to be nervous just because your Lord and Master is going to watch me spike you." Steve shuddered beneath him, one knee joint rising to rub against Starscream's side. Starscream was pleased that Steve was playing along.

"I want it," Steve whispered. It was too quiet to be intended for Megatron's audios, and Starscream realized that Steve wasn't playing. Steve wanted to be spiked. Starscream felt his internals tighten with a sudden surge of hunger.

He pressed his mouth against the drone, kissing him fiercely. A kiss was a dangerous move in the game they were playing, but Starscream couldn't resist. He ran his glossa along the central seam, dipping into the rectangular oral opening. Steve groaned.

He shifted down, lightly scraping his teeth over the purple plating as he went. He passed over the handcuffs and continued down. Steve still hesitated when Starscream moved to open his legs.

"Don't make me lose my patience," Starscream forced himself to say.

"Y-yes Commander," Steve murmured, shifting a little.

Starscream made himself comfortable. He took an appreciative look at the valve in front of him and gave it a long lick. Steve shivered. Starscream felt himself get harder from the sweet taste of the drone, and he wondered if it was chemical or mental. Either way, he wanted more. He pressed his mouth against the valve, pushing his glossa in. Steve gasped, and Starscream realized that this was his first oral frag, at least one with an actual mouth. Starscream felt childishly pleased and pushed his glossa in further, sliding it around until Steve was shaking.

Starscream heard shifting from Megatron's chair, and looked up to see him leaning one way to get a better view. Starscream smiled darkly at him. He wanted to kill him just for looking at Steve. His smile fell as Megatron stood. Steve sat up, tensing as Megatron drew closer. The warlord climbed onto the berth, sitting up, leaning against the headboard. He pulled Steve up between his knees, smirking as the drone let out a squeak of surprise. Starscream seethed at the sight of the lord's hands on his lover. And worse, he heard the sound of his interface panel clicking open. From the way he was shifting, there was no doubt his spike was now rubbing against Steve's back.

Starscream remained laying on his stomach, waiting for Megatron to settle. "Do you prefer this view, my Lord?"

"Indeed. Now, as you were," Megatron said to Starscream.

Starscream looked at Steve's red visor, willing him to feel the silent apology. He bowed his helm, trying to relax as he continued. And Primus, did it relax him.

"Mmm, you taste good," Starscream purred. He looked up to make sure Steve was watching as he licked the lubricant from his lips. He was rewarded by the smallest whimper and the minute spread of the drone's knees. _Take more_, his body screamed. Starscream obliged, beginning a rhythm with his glossa, eliciting a new string of soft noises from the vehicon and copious lubricant dripping from the valve. Starscream pressed his glossa in deeper and felt Steve's valve tighten around it.

That was it. He needed to fuck this drone _now_.

But first he had to make sure Megatron was enjoying himself. He took one final lick, and pulled himself upward. He grabbed Megatron by the back of the neck and kissed him, surprising the larger mech. He forced his glossa between the razor sharp teeth, making sure he got a taste of the lubricant. Megatron smiled as he realized Starscream's motive, and returned the kiss with fervor.

Starscream pulled away when he heard Steve's startled yelp. His optics widened. Megatron's servo had slipped between the drone's legs, a thick digit pressed into the valve. Starscream's fury peaked, and it took everything not to punch him in the face. Megatron pulled the seeker's helm in to continue the kiss and Starscream bit his lip.

"That's _my _valve," he hissed.

"What's yours is mine," Megatron played. Starscream growled, and the two smiled daggers at one another. Steve whimpered again as Megatron pumped his finger into him a few times before pulling out. He licked the fluid from his digit, still watching Starscream. "Alright seeker, have your way." Megatron put his servos behind Steve, pushing him forward. "Turn over, vehicon."

"Yes, my Lord," Steve said obediently, sitting up and flipping around. Starscream would have preferred not having Steve facing Megatron during this, but there was nothing he could do. He caught Steve's gaze for a moment, but couldn't give him any assurance. Not with Megatron watching. Steve settled himself on hands and knees. To Starscream's dismay, Megatron pulled the drone's arms up so his hands rested on Megatron's chest. Primus, he would take every inch of control that he could from the seeker.

He sat up, holding his spike in position with the valve. He pressed the tip against it, feeling the welcoming wetness against him. He pushed forward, spike sliding slowly into the tight heat. He gritted his denta, trying to keep his expression from betraying him. The feeling of being inside another was foreign, but he was already addicted.

Steve groaned, a sound so unhindered it surprised both Lord and Commander. He tilted his hips back against Starscream's spike. Starscream laid his hands on Steve's hips, pushing himself in farther. The warm, slick walls enveloped him. He pulled out quickly, lubricant dripping down his leg, and pressed in again.

"Oh Primus," Steve keened, grinding, trying to start a rhythm. That's how they were, Starscream had the looks and Steve had the touch. But Starscream was learning. He remembered how Steve had taken him so many times, the roll of his hips that rubbed over his sensor nodes and drove him wild. He rolled his hips at just that angle. "Ah!" Steve shouted, a growl escaping him after. His valve tightened and Starscream moaned, optics shutting as he repeated the move over and over.

"C-commander…" Steve murmured.

"Huh?"

"P-please could you…"

Starscream's mouth pulled into a smile, hips still working against him. "What is it?"

"Could you p-please… harder…"

Megatron let out a laugh, and Starscream realized he'd all but forgotten about him. Megatron had his servo around his spike, self servicing slowly as he watched. "Primus, I'm surprised he didn't say something sooner at the pace you're going." Megatron briefly rubbed Steve under the chin. "He wants you to fuck him harder, and so do I."

Starscream forced himself to shrug it off. He leaned over Steve, savoring the warmth as his chest plating pressed against the drone's back. "Do you want more, drone?"

"Yes please, Commander."

"He whispered a little lower. "Do you want it hard?"

Steve nodded.

Megatron watched, turned on in a voyeuristic way as his submissive seeker dominated a soldier. Who knew the drones could transform into whimpering messes? Who knew Starscream could be the one to do it? But as much as this turned him on, it wasn't the reason he'd joined them on the berth. There was something about the way Starscream was behaving. He couldn't put his finger on it, but he'd find out. He'd catch something. He just had to look closely enough.

"Have you been good?" Starscream continued to tease.

"Well I… I think I have…" the drone mumbled, trying to answer honestly. Starscream laughed against the back of his neck.

There. That laugh was a little more genuine than Megatron was used to hearing from Starscream. But his thoughts were pushed aside as Starscream thrust harder against the drone, making him moan deliciously. An unusual sound started inside the drone, something like a mechanical clicking like the start of a transformation. And then his body started to shake.

"Oh Primus," Starscream hissed, obviously affected by whatever was happening. "Did I tell you to do that?"

"S-sorry, you f-feel so good, I couldn't help… help it."

Megatron didn't understand. "What is this?"

"Just a trick my little pet can do," Starscream bragged.

Megatron looked at the drone, glare demanding an explanation.

"Uh…" the drone started. He backed up a little, shifting his cuffs so that one servo was close to resting on Megatron's spike. Megatron nodded out of curiosity and he lowered his helm to level with it.

Megatron laughed. "Oh, are you offering to please me, with that pathetic excuse of a mouth? What are you going to do?" He looked up at Starscream, who to his surprise had a wry smile on his face. The drone leaned forward, face-plate pressing against him as his engine roared to life.

Megatron jerked back so hard that his helm hit the headboard. Starscream continued to thrust into the drone as it rubbed its face-plating against him, one vibrating pulse after the next. Megatron growled, digits digging into the berth until they pierced through.

Starscream thought to himself that if Steve lived through this, he would probably apologize for pleasuring Megatron. But it wouldn't be necessary. The better Megatron was satiated, the better their chances. They both knew it.

He watched Megatron's dazed expression and his smile returned. Steve making him eat his own words was quite a treat. The giant mech groaned again as Starscream bucked into Steve, forcing his helm further against the warlord's spike. Megatron grasped the back of Steve's helm, grinding against him and the maddening vibration.

Megatron grunted, jerking in his telltale sign of an overload. Starscream paused, waiting for Megatron to make a move. He watched him as his fans whirred, mouth pulling into a toothy, satiated smile.

Megatron grabbed Steve by the shoulders, pulling him up to his level. He kept his optics on Starscream as he tilted the drone's helm to the side. He ran his glossa up the pistons and tubing of Steve's neck, one of a mech's most vulnerable areas. He opened his mouth over the drone's throat, deadly teeth brushing against soft tubes. One move and he could crush those pistons and tubes, spilling the vehicon's energon all over the berth.

He watched Starscream closely. He watched for the signs, and there they were. The careless façade Starscream had held since he walked into the room evaporated. He could see it in his whole frame, from the tension in his digits to his wings pulled tightly together. Those optics stared, so wide and helpless. Megatron had seen this in the faces of Autobots as he crushed the ones they held dear on the battlefield and in the interrogation room. Never had he seen it on this particular face.

He pulled his teeth away, leaning back. "Finish him," he said to Starscream.

Starscream broke out of his terror and looked away, resuming his motions. He bent over the drone, biting and growling, more viciously than he had minutes ago. All of this was compensation, but it was too late for that. Megatron knew. There were no other drones, only this one. He watched the purple mech curiously. How remarkable it was that his selfish, backstabbing seeker could be ensnared by a lowly, face-less soldier. However it was done, it was in Megatron's favor. The drone was just one more way to motivate Starscream to submit to him. But for now he would play the fool.

The drone whimpered with each thrust into him. "C-commander… Starscream…" His engine roared one last time, frame locking up, shuddering in an overload. Starscream was tipped over, optics shut and dentas tight together as he bit back a cry. Megatron watched the overloads, how perfectly in sync they were.

Starscream unsheathed himself and closed his spike back behind its panel. He lay across the foot of the berth, trying to look relaxed. Steve collapsed in Megatron's lap. He shakily rose, mumbling an apology. Starscream dared not reach to help him up. But he didn't look away when Megatron took hold of Steve's jaw.

"I see you're making a fine toy for my Second in Command. Just rest assured, if you or any of your comrades so much as looks at that seeker's valve, I'll extinguish your spark with a bare servo."

"Yes, my Lord," Steve responded evenly.

"You may both go."

"Yes, my Lord," he repeated, just as a drone should. He shakily stood from the berth and walked to the door. Starscream took a moment longer to watch Megatron before slipping off the berth and following after him.

To be continued.

This chapter was such an emotional roller coaster for me. I was so stressed about getting it right, but I really enjoyed writing it too. I would be eternally happy to hear what you think and what parts you liked the most.


	12. Chapter 12

12

Steve walked shakily beside Starscream. Starscream was too afraid to speak. They'd turned a corner down the hall from Megatron's wing before Steve stopped. He placed a servo on the wall for support.

"Steve? What is it?"

"Excuse me, Commander. I just need a minute." Steve's hull rose and fell as he caught his breath. "I thought he was going to hurt you. I thought he was going to kill me. Primus, I'm still a little shocked that I'm alive." Steve felt his hull as if he were amazed that it was still there.

Starscream coaxed him into leaning back against the wall. "Just breathe. We're both fine." He hesitated. "We _are _both fine, aren't we?"

Steve nodded.

Starscream looked him over. Steve was rightfully shaken up. "Come to my quarters. It's closer."

"Oh no, I'm fine, I just needed a minute." Steve stood up again.

"Just come," Starscream ordered, taking Steve firmly by the hand to lead him down the hall.

They reached Starscream's quarters and went in. Steve had never been inside before. He looked around, glancing at the window that looked out at the Earth's starry night. The drones' wing was in the center of the ship, away from outer walls and windows. Starscream studied him as he looked out. Steve was a mess, with lubricant and transfluid dried on his plating. Some of it was Megatron's, which made Starscream clench his jaw. Starscream pulled him to his wash rack.

"I'm getting you cleaned up."

He turned on the water and stepped out to grab a stool from the storage closet. Soon he had Steve situated beneath the water, and pulled down the wand to rinse him off.

"You don't have to do this," Steve said with embarrassment as Starscream held a sponge beneath the cleanser dispenser. He still sounded a little dazed.

Starscream ignored him, kneeling on the floor. He rubbed the sudsy sponge over Steve's lower face plating and down his chest. Starscream wanted to tear Megatron apart. He wanted to throw furniture and send off his rockets at someone. Bathing Steve was the only thing keeping him together.

"It was only a few minutes after you left when Megatron came up behind me with cuffs," Steve said. "404 and D3-R3K were with me. They were still laughing about you grabbing me when he ordered them to put the cuffs on me. When I saw the cuffs I knew it was all over. It was strange, my two closest friends putting them on. He ordered them to escort me to his quarters, and told them to lock the place up. On the way, they offered to help me escape. But how long would a rogue vehicon last without aid? And I wasn't about to bail on you, especially if Megatron knew what was going on. So they left me there to wait while Megatron was in the meeting. It was the longest wait of my life."

Starscream tightened his grip on the sponge. "It's my fault this happened to you."

"No, it's okay," Steve said. "Being Megatron's... it's a burden I always wished I could help you with somehow. I guess sharing the burden is the closest I could get to helping."

"You don't deserve to share it," Starscream said bitterly. "Megatron is my mistake."

Starscream took the wand and rinsed off the cleanser. Steve sighed under the warm water. When Starscream went to put back the shower wand, Steve stood up. Starscream looked at him with surprise when Steve took both of his hands and drew him close.

"I'm in love with you, Starscream."

Starscream's optics widened.

"I'm sure you know, but I had to say it. Please remember, even if it's from a drone like me."

He couldn't look Steve in the face any longer, and his optics went to their hands. "I don't... I don't like talking about these kinds of things-"

"I'm sorry-"

"Shut...! Just let me finish. I don't like talking about these kinds of things because acknowledging them makes it harder to lose. And I don't like to lose." Starscream took a moment. He didn't need to make any decisions; it was just a matter of finding the courage to speak. "If I weren't bonded to Megatron, I would give you my spark."

He chanced a look at Steve and saw the shock in the brightness of his visor. "You would?" he asked quietly.

"I would."

And it was true. He could feel it, strands of energy licking his spark chamber doors, longing to be let out to reach for the other. The time in which he'd been aware of the loyal vehicon was only a blink in comparison to the span of his life, but the pull, the rightness of it was undeniable. He, a seeker and Commander of the army of the Decepticons, was meant to be equal in spark with a drone soldier, the product of a factory line. His servos came up to press against Steve's hull, feeling the warmth of his spark beneath it. He wanted it so badly that it hurt.

Steve's helm tilted ever so slightly as he looked Starscream over. Embarrassed, Starscream buried his face in the crook of Steve's neck and the drone pulled him closer.

After a long moment, Starscream composed himself and finally pulled away. "You should recharge. Stay in my berth."

"Thank you Commander, but I should go. I have to tell my friends that I'm alright."

"I'll do it."

"Wha- no, I couldn't ask that of you."

"You didn't ask," Starscream said assertively.

Starscream hit the control panel and a blast of hot air blew down onto them, sending water droplets racing off their plating onto the floor.

xxxx

After a small struggle to convince Steve to get into the berth, Starscream made his way to the eradicon wing. The closer he came to the wing, the more he regretted offering. He was good at ordering drones around and yelling at them, not comforting them. This wasn't his forte. But maybe it would be easy. Perhaps he'd just have to knock on a door and tell one of them and they would tell the rest.

He came around the corner to the eradicons' hallway, and was surprised to find it packed, most of the drones waiting by Steve's door. There had to be more than a dozen of them cramped in the hall, some sitting on the floor and others leaning against the walls. Many of the other doors in the hall were left open, some occupied by a pair or more of eradicons and vehicons.

The whole hall came alive with Starscream's entrance. The sitting drones stood up quickly and the ones in their rooms rushed out to see. Starscream straightened up, expression as stern as he could manage. They were formal with him, yes, but this was the tension of anticipation, not propriety. They must be expecting the worst, seeing Starscream here alone. He didn't look at any of the cons he passed. He walked down the hall to the large group and didn't rush to get there. Starscream raised his chin, lacing his digits behind his back.

"Steve is alive," he said quickly, to ease the tension. Many of them let out air, some bowing their helms. "He's recharging in my quarters," he continued.

One of them bent forward, servos digging against the wall behind him.

"You're 404, are you not?" Starscream asked him. The drone tried to recover, to straighten up, but his helm hung lower than was proper. Starscream hesitated for a moment before continuing. "You have permission to enter my quarters to see him."

The drone looked startled, but he didn't waste time. "Thank you, Commander," he said with a hasty bow before rushing past.

Starscream looked at the rest of them, still trying to appear uncaring. Not that he really desired to look that way, but being vulnerable was worse. "You're dismissed," he said, without anything better to say. The group slowly dissipated, all but a trio of eradicon fliers. The center drone murmured to the others, who left him alone.

"I assume you have something to say," Starscream said. He was nervous. "Spit it out."

"Commander Starscream, I humbly request to have a word with you."

"You're already _having _a word with me," he answered impatiently.

"In private, if you would oblige me."

It had been a long night. Starscream sneered, opening his mouth to shout at him to just say it already. But the drone cut him off. "I think you'll prefer to hear this out of audio-shot."

Starscream stopped, surprised. The drone gestured a servo to Steve's door. Starscream huffed and entered, the drone following behind. Once alone together, he turned to face the mech. In the brighter light of the room he saw a jagged scar trailing across the drone's throat plating, and warped areas where the tubes had been sealed back together. Anyone could tell that the drone had been through a lot.

"Well what _is_ it?" Starscream asked.

"Do I have permission to speak?"

"Yes!"

"...as a soldier to their Commander, or with honesty?"

This surprised Starscream even further. His apprehension increased. "Say what you will, but Primus, just get on with it."

The drone looked off to the side, examining the cabinets. He spoke in a casual tone. "Many of the soldiers are under the impression that you are tangling with ST-3V3 as a means of gaining the good opinion of the eradicon army."

Starscream's internals choked. "What?"

"After all, you have a record of aiming to gain the good graces of our Lord Megatron. It is believed by some that you've finally figured out the advantage of having our loyalty instead. Having a drone lover gives the army the illusion of some kind of connection across ranks. In the future if the drones are faced with choosing to stay with Lord Megatron or ally with you, you will have the advantage of appearing to respect them, perhaps even fool them into feeling you treat them as equals."

Starscream couldn't believe his audios. It was horrifically plausible.

The drone appraised him. "Truly, it is a genius political move to use Steve in this way."

"I am not using Steve!" Starscream bellowed angrily. "How dare you! How dare you speak to me this way! Accusing your Commander of treason! These accusations are false and they are criminal. I should have you locked up for this!"

"That would be a mistake," the drone said as Starscream came closer. "If anything happens to me, it will undoubtedly sway the opinion of the soldiers. They already know that I doubt you. Destroying me would only confirm my beliefs."

"What is it that you want, drone?" Starscream asked angrily. He wasn't begging. "There's always something. You're offering a trade, your silence from Lord Megatron for mutiny which I have _not _planned, in exchange for what?" A distressing thought crossed his processor and he took a step back. "Do you plan to use me as payment for your silence?"

"I pity you for so quickly jumping to that conclusion," the drone said, shaking his helm. "Not all of the Decepticons have the sick mind that so many of the officers and higher-ups possess." The drone looked away, his tone lowering. "Eradicon and vehicon soldiers are killed every day on the field. Officers may not blink an optic at the loss, but we mourn the death of each and every comrade. If Steve is killed by Lord Megatron over this game of yours, it will be the first time a drone has lost their life as a superior's plaything."

"He is not a plaything!" Starscream shouted. "He is..."

"He is what? Certainly not your mate or intended. That ship has sailed."

"How would you have me prove myself genuine?" Starscream growled. "What must I do?"

The drone looked at him for a moment. "You must give him up."

Starscream processed the notion. "I would never. I could never give him up."

"It is the only way Megatron's attention will stray from him. It's the only way he will be safe again."

"Well, find another way! I'm not giving him up!"

"You must. If you do not, the soldiers' comm links will pull down their firewalls, and rumors of your betrayal will be caught in Soundwave's filter. Think of it. A plot to sway Megatron's own army from his control? There wouldn't be any talking your way out of that."

Starscream's optics were glued on the floor, too angry to meet the drone's. "And what if there is no plot? What if you're wrong about me?"

"I'm not wrong. If you truly cared for Steve, he would have never seen the inside of Megatron's quarters. You would have given him up long ago."

With that the drone left, and Starscream was alone.

xxxx

Steve onlined slowly. There was a warm, golden glow in the room, and for a moment he was disoriented by it. He turned over and sat up, relieved by the sight of Starscream leaning by the window. His arms were crossed as he looked out, morning sunlight flooding around him into the room.

With the light in his optical visor, it was hard to tell when Starscream glanced at him.

"It's about time you onlined," the seeker said coolly.

Steve grew anxious from the seeker's tone. He rarely took it personally; Starscream's tone meant something was wrong. Whether it was serious or something Starscream would share at all was unknown, so Steve kept himself seeming oblivious.

"Sorry about that," he said with chagrin. He stood and went to Starscream, looking out the window. He stayed quiet for a moment, trying to coax Starscream into sharing what was on his mind. But he didn't. Steve turned to him with increasing worry. "Did you recharge?"

Starscream unfolded his arms suddenly. "This isn't working out."

Steve's internals tightened with fear, but he wasn't ready to show it. "W-What isn't?"

"Us."

His hull rose and fell. "What… what happened while I was recharging?"

"I had time to think. I don't like this, the way you make me feel. I'm not myself anymore. You're making a stranger out of me."

"I'm not trying to change you," he said. It was the only logical response he could come up with, but he didn't understand. He reached out to touch Starscream and Starscream flinched away sharply.

"Don't touch me."

Steve began to panic and his composure unraveled. "Starscream-"

"That's _Commander _Starscream!" the seeker snapped.

"What are you doing?" Steve begged. He brought his arms up again, digits brushing over Starscream's wrists.

Starscream's servo came up quickly, backhanding him across the face. "I said don't touch me!" he shouted. He shoved Steve back. "From now on you are to stay out of my sight. I don't want to see you, I don't want to hear your vocals, and I don't want you to cross my processor even one more time."

Steve was desperate to know what had happened, what had changed during his brief hours of recharge. Something had happened to Starscream.

But it didn't mean this wasn't real. The Commander wanted him gone for good. He forced back his grief and bowed respectfully before walking out into the dark hall. The door slid closed, cutting off the sunlight.

xxxx

Steve stood in the spray-down room. His black and silver plating had been taped off. A pair of eradicons went over him with purple airbrushes.

The Alpha Con stood by, his prominent throat scar now hidden by the shadow of his jaw. "You will take the name and ID code of the next drone to perish on the battlefield. That drone will be identified by the officers as ST-3V3, and he will be pronounced dead. You will be a new mech."

Steve listened quietly as he watched each of his scratches vanish under the chrome-purple spray. They worked from the bottom up, and were almost finished. One of the eradicons reached his chest, and Steve's hand rose hastily to protect the crescent scar. He took a step back.

"I can't. Please, I can't lose this."

"The point is to lose it," the Alpha Con said with gentle sternness. "It's to protect you from Megatron. You can't take the risk of being identified."

"But what if he changes his mind?" Steve said, "He won't be able to find me."

"It's better that he forgets," the Alpha said. Steve knew he was just playing along. It was no secret that the Alpha believed Starscream was a fraud. But the Alpha was a bystander. He hadn't laid beside Starscream each night, watching the infinitesimal changes on the seeker's face as he began to fall in love.

But it was over, and Steve needed to move on. His servo fell away from his chest, and he watched as the painter sprayed over the crescent scar and covered it completely.

To be continued.


	13. Chapter 13

This chapter was removed and reposted with edits. If you read it before, please re-read it because there are significant plot changes. Sorry for the inconvenience. The second half of the original draft will be in chapter 14 so don't be surprised if it seems like some is cut off. Endless thanks to Rosena (speak-the-name) for all of her suggestions and support.

If you want more Steve, you might be interested in my tumblr blog, 'askst3v3'. Just imagine that Steve is writing a blog as Bathing with Eradicons goes along. You can ask Steve any questions you want.

13

Starscream lay in his berth, staring at the ceiling. The hours had blurred together, and with his comm shut off and the darkeners over the windows, he had no idea what time it was or how long he'd been lying there.

A knock at the door stirred him from his haze. He didn't want to face anyone. The world could not move forward on the path he knew it would, and he knew what would happen. His old routine would surface, but now that he knew what he couldn't have, every step would be painful.

He'd online every morning alone, take his energon in the privacy of his quarters and think about what the day had in store. He'd take the long route to the command central, mustering up the courage to face Megatron another day. Pleasing his Lord was no longer possible or desired; it was just a matter of satisfying him. Soundwave would watch him closely for signs of betrayal, and he would take all the chances he had, or act suspicious to keep the TIC on his toes. He would take a small amount of solace in conversations with the medic, who, like him, was here because he had no choice. Of course they didn't talk about such things, but the knowledge was enough.

He would be sent out on missions. They were the best part of it all, standing on the Nemesis dock and leaping off. It was like the start of a suicide each time, falling from the edge in mech form before transforming into a jet. And when the day was done, after Megatron had debriefed him and satisfied his urges, he would return to his quarters.

It happened less over these last few years, but on the rare occasion he would still remember his trine. Thundercracker and Skywarp could still be out there somewhere, lost in space after the bridge accident. Perhaps all of the seekers were alive with them. Starscream would drape himself over the berth padding and imagine they were recharging on either side of him, or pretending to recharge to allow him to relax. Affection without sexual demands was a rare commodity among Decepticons, and he missed it with other seekers.

And then the drone had come along, he who demanded nothing and who could hold Starscream without so much as a sexual brush of the servo, and then when Starscream wanted, would light him on fire. There had always been his family of seekers on one side and Megatron on the other. Never before had he found a mech who could provide him with all of his needs at once.

There was another knock at the door and Starscream turned over, burying his face in the berth padding. Silence followed for a moment before another, more urgent. Starscream growled, pulling himself from the berth. He opened the windows and was surprised to be met with blackness. He checked his internal clock. It was nearly four in the morning.

He opened the door and looked out at a drone, shifting nervously in the hall. For the briefest second he thought it was _him_, and the sight of him would have been so desirable in spite of everything. But it wasn't.

"I assume I'm needed by Lord Megatron, to be disturbed at so late an hour?"

"No, Sir… it's uh…" The drone's fists tightened as he looked off down the hall. It was a strange kind of nervousness. So this was about _him_. It had to be. Starscream was about to tell him to leave when the vehicon burst. "Commander, I have to tell ya this. It's a secret, I know. I mean, only the drones are supposed to know this stuff, it's against all our rules to tell, but you got to know! They can't let ya think this if it isn't true…"

Starscream knew this mech, no other spoke with more slang than 404. But he wasn't about to address him as a familiar. "Drone," he growled with warning, "I should have you beaten for this insolence."

"Commander, I don't believe what ya said to him, not for a minute! You got to know that they-"

Starscream's spark twisted. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said, "and I don't give a slag what a common drone thinks about anything! Now, get out of here!"

Starscream slammed the button to close the door, but 404 put his servos on either side to keep it open. Starscream literally gasped from the insolence. "You!" He pushed at him without success and held onto the frame, lifting his leg to push him out with his foot. The drone held onto the door frame with grasping digits.

"C-Commander! Don't believe em! Don't listen to a thing until ya see it for yourself!"

Starscream kicked hard and the drone fell back into the hall. The seeker grabbed him by the collar and punched him in the face. He punched him again, and pulled him up to stand before hitting him hard enough to send him staggering back. 404 didn't make a sound, but then again, they never really had. He tried to remember back, all of the times he'd beaten the slag out of the soldiers, and so rarely did they whimper or beg him to stop. He approached 404 and hit him again, and the vehicon fell to the floor. Starscream watched him struggle up again.

The vehicon took a formal position, kneeling on one knee. Starscream's intakes hitched. It was the stance of loyalty that Shockwave had instilled into them from their first day off the factory lines. The drone swayed slightly from the recent blows, but he stayed where he was, helm bowed.

Starscream was shaken. "You must cease immediately before someone sees you!" he said, panicking and looking down the hall on either side. "That stance is for Lord Megatron alone."

"It's meant for you, Commander Starscream," 404 said firmly.

Starscream took a step back before escaping into his quarters. His vents cycled quickly, trying to dismiss what he'd just seen, and whatever it was the drone felt so desperate to tell him.

xxxx

That same day, Lord Megatron sent Knockout and Breakdown out on a mission with a team of drones. It was supposed to have been a simple mission, but it seemed the Autobots had been less tied up than expected.

Upon returning, Knockout had to go straight to the medical bay to repair the drones who had covered him, or make the ones comfortable who would not survive. Starscream watched soldiers carrying their comrades. Some of them were already dead, though it wasn't apparent whether the mechs carrying them knew, or wanted to accept.

Because Starscream had not been on the mission, he hoped that_ he_ hadn't been there either. But who knew if he was sticking to that rule, to follow Starscream into every battle. And there was no telling if that meant he didn't go to other ones. Not knowing made him sick, but he couldn't keep tabs on him now, not without Megatron noticing. He made himself to let it go.

Or he did, until Megatron forced it upon him.

'Starscream, report to the medical bay at once,' Megatron commed him. Starscream sighed, not even bothering to spend the processor energy necessary to wonder why. He arrived, and looked around for Megatron. There were drones on repair tables being worked on by Knockout's assistant vehicons. Knockout worked on one as well, and he looked exhausted. That was the life of a Decepticon medic, to go out and fight hard, then come home and clean up the mess.

"In there," the Doctor said, gesturing Starscream to one of the private rooms.

Starscream trudged over to it, deliberately trying to keep his optics away from the drones. However there was one that caught his attention. The drone was still, energon flowing from his mangled frame onto the floor. The scar across his throat identified him. The Alpha drone was dead.

The Alpha drone was dead.

The Alpha… who had threatened to blackmail him was dead. But he had plenty of reasons not to rejoice. Even if he hated the mech and wasn't crushed by his passing, the Alpha had been looking out for _him_, and he could never hold that against him. And there was the matter of his freedom. Without someone to blackmail him, he was free to do what he wanted. But what the Alpha had said remained the same. _He _would never be safe as long as he was with Starscream. Starscream was indulgent, and knew himself to make wrong choices for selfish reasons. But this wouldn't be one of them. What was done was done.

He entered the small room and found Megatron standing behind a medical table. The outline of a soldier could be seen beneath the drop cloth. Megatron watched Starscream for a reaction.

Starscream looked down at the drop cloth and up at Megatron. "Lord Megatron, what is this?"

"What do you think it is?"

Starscream looked down again. He shook his helm and turned to leave, completely rejecting the idea.

"Don't," Megatron said, and Starscream turned around again.

"It's…" Starscream began.

"Just one of your little pets," Megatron toyed, "the one you had such a display with in my berth. What was his code? ST-3V3?"

Could it really be? Starscream looked at the drop cloth, at the profile of the body beneath it. He took a few hesitant steps forward.

His processor flashed with memories; being walked home that first time, and so many times after that. He remembered limbs intertwining in the berth, waking up beside him, disclosing secrets Starscream thought would never pass his lips, and the gentle touches. Gentleness was not part of his life before he'd walked into the wash racks. He remembered almost losing him before. He remembered backing away as_ he _came forward, vocals roaring that he would never, ever abandon Starscream.

"You're a liar," he said to the body.

"Is that right?" Megatron responded, assuming he was the one being addressed. He pulled the drop cloth back to prove his point, exposing the body.

Starscream jerked back at the sight of torn metal in a deep, jagged line from the drone's shoulder slanted across their lower chest down to their hip. Starscream's optics were frozen on his chest, at the flawless purple metal where a crescent scar should have been.

404's words echoed in his mind. '_Don't believe them'_, he'd said. This was it, some colossal set-up. He was looking down at the body of an unfamiliar drone.

Starscream turned away quickly, vents gasping for air. He slid to the floor, blessed relief overtaking him. _He _was alive. Starscream choked, servos sliding over his chest. He understood. Assumed dead, _he _would not be in danger of Megatron's wrath. Assumed dead and Starscream would be forced to move on. That must have been the Alpha's plan. The eradicon army had secrets beyond any of the higher-up's understanding, and Starscream was now seeing a glimpse into that complicated world. And _he _was alive in that world, somewhere out of Starscream's sight. Maybe Starscream could get by on that knowledge alone.

He came back to reality when he heard Megatron's footfalls coming around the table. He met his Lord's gaze. Megatron was studying him.

"Are you gauging my reaction, now?" Starscream said quietly.

Megatron's stare faltered.

"Trying to determine my legitimacy? You want me to think that you simply enjoy my suffering. You may be a good liar, my Lord, but I've been around you for a long time. You want this to be real, because if it's not, if I'm fabricating my affection, it means it's something bigger. It means I'm up to something again, and you can't have that."

Megatron's face was smooth and expressionless. "And so, which is it?"

"That's right; you wouldn't be able to tell, would you? You wouldn't be able to tell love from a conspiracy, not even with your own spark mate. But maybe it's not only determining if I have a spark, perhaps making me suffer is the only way you can get anything out of me anymore."

Starscream was too angry to stop. He was angry at the sequence of events in his life, one worse than the next, until the flux that was _him_, which had quickly been taken back. As Starscream spoke, Megatron knelt down to be closer level with him, his face still void of emotion. He put his servos on either side of Starscream's jaw, slipping down over the cabling of his neck. Starscream watched him unflinchingly.

"And beyond hate, you're afraid that I feel indifferent to you," Starscream continued, "If you can't make me feel good, you'll make me feel something else instead."

Megatron's digits wrapped around his throat, still loose enough for Starscream to speak.

"That's the reason why," Starscream went on. "You are Lord Megatron, immortal in history and not to be forgotten by anyone, especially not by me."

Megatron began to squeeze. Starscream grimaced, tightening his fists as his mate applied more pressure. He felt his energon lines becoming constricted, the flow to his processor becoming sluggish. The lord's massive digits made his coil trachea pipe fold in and his exhaust fans whirred desperately.

Starscream continued to glare as he began to choke, his servos finally coming to Megatron's wrists as he struggled to pull himself free. Megatron pulled him closer by the throat and shoved him roughly back against the table, and then repeated it harder and harder until the clanging was undoubtedly heard by everyone in the medical bay.

xxxx

One of the eradicons waiting to be examined lay on a surgical table, listening to the slamming in the other room. The door remained open, and the drone sat up and leaned to the side to see what was happening. And there he saw it, Lord Megatron with his servos around Commander Starscream's throat, knocking the poor seeker back against the table. The eradicon was disgusted.

He glanced at the Doctor, who had his back to the scene as he worked on another patient, or pretended to work as he listened to the chilling clang of metal. The eradicon lifted a digit to his audio and whispered. _'ST-3V3, we have a possible Code Grey. The Autobot Contact might need to be requested.'_

'_Primus, comm 404 directly!' _Steve commed back, terror in his voice._ 'I'll be right there.'_

The drone transferred the line. _'404, I'm watching for Code Grey. Can you have Contact at the ready?'_

'_I'll comm 'em right away and see if he's near their ground bridge,'_ 404 responded. The eradicon thought that perhaps 404 having an Autobot lover would be an advantage for once.

The eradicon watched the horrible scene play out. Lord Megatron lifted the seeker, sliding him up against the table as he kept his servos wrapped around his neck. Starscream began to thrash, his lightweight seeker frame no match for the gladiator's build. His legs kicked out, arms struggling to pull Megatron's massive servos from his throat.

'_Code Grey confirmed,'_ the eradicon commed 404.

Barely a second later, ST-3V3 rushed into the medical bay, catching the patients' and doctor's attention as he paused outside of the smaller room. He stood with his back to the wall, waiting.

xxxx

Starscream struggled with everything he had, vocals fighting to whimper from the digit forced against it. Megatron was going to kill him. He imagined what would happen when they told _him_ and he began to struggle harder. Warning signs blinked in his processor and on the edge of his peripherals, his vision flickering as the wires were pinched.

There was a sudden rushed voice at the opened doorway beside them. "Lord Megatron!" the voice shouted. Starscream's spark flickered at the sound of _his _voice. "Lord Megatron I have an urgent message from Commander Soundwave. Just seconds ago an Autobot signal was detected on board the Nemesis."

Another second went by before Megatron's grip on his throat loosened. Starscream's intakes filled, followed by a fit of coughing as his coiled tracial tube tried to flex out again.

"Thank the Autobots for this," Megatron growled at Starscream as he stalked out of the room.

xxxx

The eradicon watched Megatron leave the medical bay, and Steve rush to Starscream's side. He lifted the seeker's helm back, trying to help him as he coughed. The sight filled the eradicon with hope.

"Doctor!" Steve shouted, but Knockout was already on it. He grabbed a pair of tools and a tank from the cabinet and hurried into the smaller room. He placed one of the contraptions over Starscream's mouth, the other wedging into the cabling of his throat. The seeker's coughing turned to gasping as his ventilation system settled.

_'Is he okay?'_ 404 commed in.

_'Yeah, the Commander is stable,' _the eradicon commed back, _'you can tell your Contact to catch a ground bridge home._'

_'Alright,' _404 responded,_ 'That's good to hear.'_

To be continued.

The eradicons' organization and resourcefulness should never be underestimated.


	14. Chapter 14

14

Steve looked down at Starscream, who was lying on the berth beneath him. Starscream stretched lithely with his arms above him, body brushing against Steve's chassis. He smiled up at him, a warm servo lifting to Steve's face. Starscream leaned up and kissed him, but something about the kiss felt different. It felt as though Steve was kissing him back.

"I want you forever," Starscream murmured into his audio. He lay back against the padding, optics still trained up to him. "Do you?"

"Yes," Steve said, but his vocals felt wrong. They sounded unfamiliar. But there was something else. It was a lie. He was lying. But why would he think that?

His attention was pulled back to Starscream as the seeker's chest plating slid to the sides, the delicate inner spark chamber doors coming into sight. The doors slid apart, the beautiful, pure glow illuminating the space between them.

Steve was entranced. He reached out to touch it, and to his horror, it wasn't his own hand at all. Megatron's servo came forward, sharp digits tracing the edge of the spark chamber. Steve tried to pull away, but he was no longer in control. He tried to shout but he couldn't. He watched his hand, Megatron's hand, make its way from the spark chamber upward. His servo reached around Starscream's throat and began to tighten.

"My Lord?" Starscream asked, fear slipping into his voice. The servo gripped him with full force, silencing the seeker. He began to struggle beneath him.

_No, no, no, no, no…_

And then Steve spoke, uncontrollably, his voice that of Megatron's. "Until death do us part."

xxxx

Steve woke with a start, intakes gasping as he regained consciousness. His servos went to his chest, panic in his system from the nightmare. He looked around. He was in the medical bay, sitting on a stool beside Starscream. The Commander still lay unconscious, a tube extending from his mouth and wires attached to various damaged areas of his throat.

Steve let out a sigh. He was tired from the stress, from long nights void of recharge. He would stare at the ceiling, some part of him still expecting the Commander to slip into his room and crawl into the berth. But he wouldn't. He wanted no part of Steve anymore.

Steve watched Starscream recharge. He'd been trying so hard to look at it the way he had at the beginning. At first, after the incident in the wash racks, Steve had looked at it as the end, a memory he wouldn't let go of. And then each time he came closer to the commander, it was one more memory to cherish, nothing permanent. But time had passed and loving the Commander turned to being _in love_ with him. Now, being apart from him was excruciating. He was inconsolable, and knew that he would carry this pain forever.

Megatron was slowly killing him. That much Steve was sure of. Someday their organized system would not save Starscream from Megatron, and they would not be able to avoid Code Grey with smoke and mirrors. Steve would not just stand by and watch, then. He would defend Starscream and undoubtedly be killed. It was his fate, but at least in his last moment, Starscream would see that he wasn't forgotten.

Knockout walked in from the back room and Steve jumped to attention.

"Relax," Knockout said, "You've been recharging there for twenty minutes, it's too late to look respectable now. It seems that all the drones are infatuated with the Commander these days."

If only the Doctor knew it was probably all Steve he'd been seeing.

Knockout put a few things away in the cabinets and brushed his servos together, heading for the door.

"Doctor, are you going to the medical supply room, anywhere that I can be of service?" Steve asked.

Knockout smirked. "Just to Soundwave's quarters, and I think I can handle that on my own."

Knockout left and Steve put a digit to his comm link, aiming for a location rather than an individual. 'Courtesy Comm: Dr. K is heading to hall 82, destination: S. W.'

Steve sat down again beside the Commander, tempted for a moment to reach out and touch his hand. He started to lift his servo when he was interrupted by another comm.

'Beta Officer DA-N3 comming ST-3V3, you are to report to the June meeting location for the late Alpha's commemorative gathering, starting in 5 minutes.'

'Officer, with all due respect, I didn't send a request to attend,' Steve commed back carefully.

'You are on the required attendees list,' Dane responded formally. He was not usually so mild; it must have been the Alpha's passing that kept his temper down.

'Order received,' Steve said before cutting the comm link. He sighed, knowing that he'd been put on the list because of his connection to the Commander. It was the same with 404. Required meeting attendees were selected because of special ability or knowledge, commendable accomplishments or connections that were deemed beneficial to the Eradicon Underground. 404 and Steve fit into the last category. He and 404 had shared their disgust over it back when 404 was added to the list, and now Steve would be joining him.

Another comm interrupted his thoughts. What a busy day. 'Courtesy Comm: M. is entering hall 174, destination: Medbay.'

Steve tightened his fists. Megatron was back so soon? And if he was in hall 174, then Steve had precisely 60 seconds before his arrival. He really should go before he came so that he could make it to the commemorative gathering on time, but he wasn't about to leave Starscream alone.

He stepped over to the counter where trays of surgical tools were being kept. He took one of the trays, held it out and purposefully dumped the tools onto the floor with a loud clatter.

When Megatron entered, Steve was on his knees picking up the mess, a perfect excuse to stick around. Megatron looked at the tools.

"I need a ply pick."

"Yes My Lord," Steve said, looking from him to the tools. He wasn't too sure which was a ply pick, since he hadn't had medical assistant training. Megatron sighed impatiently, pointing to one of the tools.

"That one, there."

Steve quickly picked up the tool and started toward the sterilizer.

"Don't bother, just give it to me," Megatron said, taking the pick. "I didn't fight my way out of the gladiator pits to use sterilized denta picks."

He leaned against the counter, crossing his legs as he began picking at his sharp teeth.

"I'll never grow accustomed to the grime on this planet, and how it gets lodged absolutely everywhere." As he picked, Steve heard the nearly imperceptible sound of grit falling to the floor. "Do you know what I mean?" Megatron glanced at the drone and chuckled. "No, of course you don't."

He chuckled again, dropping the tool into the sink before heading out of the medical bay. Steve bristled. He hadn't even gone to check on Starscream, even if it was to see his own handiwork. Megatron just didn't give one slag about him.

Steve started his comm link. 'Courtesy comm: M. is heading left down hall 174, destination not acquired.'

Steve cleaned up the rest of the tools and headed to the meeting. The storage room they had chosen for the month of June was packed, and Steve felt a wave of awkwardness when he realized he was the last to arrive. He addressed the council, who sat in a row in the front. "My apologies, Council. I meant no disrespect to the late Alpha's memory. I was held up assisting Lord Megatron."

One of the beta officers nodded and Steve headed to the back. 404 waved him down, gesturing to the empty seat he had saved for him. Steve took it gratefully. "I can't believe they couldn't even start without me," Steve whispered. "It's not like I'm a beta officer or anything."

404 leaned over to whisper back to him. "Exactly. We're only here because we banged somebody important."

One of the council members began to speak. "Attendees, please rise as we say a few words for the late Alpha, M0-RT."

The room stood, and Steve laced his digits together. Alpha M0-RT had been hard on them all, but he'd brought the Eradicon Underground into a state of organization that they'd never had before. The mortality rate had dropped to a new low.

Steve listened to the officer's words half heartedly, mind still lingering to the last time he'd spoken to the Alpha. He'd only spoken to him a handful of times, and being repainted had been his last. He wasn't angry about that. After all, it had been for his own good, and for Starscream's. Even though the Alpha had no business caring for officers, Alpha M0-RT had a kind spark. Steve thought that maybe near the end he'd seen a glimmer of the good in Starscream that Steve saw every day.

"And without any more waiting, we will announce the new Alpha," Council Officer B3-N said. "As is customary, the late Alpha's Will has been studied beforehand. Alpha M0-RT has chosen this heir, and for that we will show him the greatest respect."

Steve's mind wandered back to the medical bay. As soon as this was over he would return to check on Starscream.

404 elbowed him. He looked up, surprised that every optical visor in the room was focused on him. "I'll repeat," the council officer said, "The heir to the title of Alpha is Vehicon ST-3V3."

Steve stared in shock and leaned over to 404. "What did he just say?"

"He said you're the new Alpha," 404 replied in surprise. 404 put a hand to his spark in salute. The rest of the room put their hands up as well.

"Please come to the front, Alpha ST-3V3."

Steve was still in shock, and 404 had to shove him to get him to start walking. He made his way to the front in a daze.

"Honorable Alpha, please kneel," said officer B3-N, and Steve knelt obediently. "As you know, you are now the supreme law over the Eradicon army. It is your job to run the Eradicon Underground System as covertly as possible, ensuring that the Decepticon Lord's rule is carried out smoothly and with as few casualties as can be avoided. You may retire any of us and choose new council members as you wish, and your choice will not be held against you by any of us. Please take a few days to determine if any of the council should be replaced. Please rise and tell the room what you have to say in response to the title bestowed upon you."

Steve stood slowly and turned to face the room. The room was quiet, not even 404 whistling in jest.

"It… it should be a great honor that Alpha M0-RT chose me," Steve said carefully, "But the late Alpha chose me because of who I represent. You know as well as I do that this is true."

One of the eradicons in the crowd stepped forward. "This is an outrage! What do you plan to do, start a revolt against Lord Megatron in favor of the Commander?"

Another eradicon, one Steve didn't know too well, came forward as well. "Maybe that's exactly what the late Alpha wanted! He did choose Steve after all! Lord Megatron isn't the mech he once was. What are we even fighting for anymore?"

"We're fighting for the Decepticon cause!" another eradicon yelled.

"He lets you soldiers get slaughtered like scrap metal," shouted one of the miners. "Megatron acts as if none of us have grown sentient since the day we were made, but we have! Shockwave never intended us to think or feel, but we do, and Megatron ignores that! He cares nothing for us!"

A vehicon spoke out. "That's right! Alpha M0-RT never steered us wrong before, and if this is what he believes in, then we should give him the benefit of believing it too."

The eradicons shouted back and forth, their voices meshing together until Steve couldn't understand them anymore. Part of him was shrinking with despair. He had been Alpha for less than five minutes and the Eradicon army was already becoming divided. And yet, the points they were advocating for were legitimate, issues that had gone unnoticed for far too long. He thought for a moment that maybe the late Alpha had made the right decision.

To be continued.

Hey everybody! So you may have heard that I recently published a novel, Pendragon University. I want to talk about it, so if you have enjoyed Bathing with Eradicons at all, please do me this small favor and read on.

I want to make it as a novelist. Even if it takes years, I am determined. Please think about my writing, about Bathing with Eradicons, and understand that I put four years of effort and love into Pendragon University. It's available for Kindle, Nook and your PC computer. Just search 'Pendragon University' on the Amazon and Barnes and Noble websites. If you have any trouble finding it or have questions about it, feel free to message me here. I'm happy to help!

I made the book 99 cents so that lots of people could afford to read it. But if you can't purchase it, please support me by telling your friends online, blogging about it, anything you can do to get me out there. Please! I tried paid advertising, and I got 10 clicks out of 20,000. But people are purchasing the book, so I know that it's word of mouth and fans of my fanfiction that is the cause. If this book takes off, I believe it will be you who make it happen. I believe that my fate as a writer could depend on each one of you.

To everyone who has already purchased Pendragon University and spread the word, thank you so much! Your support means everything to me.


	15. Chapter 15

15

Starscream stood a good distance away from Megatron, who watched an eradicon working at the controls. He himself hovered over the work a vehicon was doing at the control to the left, re-scanning acres of land where the Autobots had been found in the past.

It had been a slow day on the Nemesis so far. Not a single sign of an Autobot signature had come up since one had been sensed on the Nemesis two weeks ago. Megatron had not said a word about the incident after Starscream had woken in the medical bay, and Starscream was glad. He'd kept himself as quiet as was possible since then, almost hoping the Decepticon Lord would forget he was even there.

Unconsciously he touched his newly-repaired throat, remembering Steve's voice and his servos on his face in the last moments before he had fallen unconscious. Escaping from the hollowness of the present, his processor drifted back before he had sent Steve away.

xxxx

A month ago, Starscream had been pacing around his quarters, impatiently waiting for his arrival.

There was a knock at the door and he rushed over, pausing a moment before opening it in an attempt not to look like he'd been waiting. The door opened and Steve's visor brightened.

"Commander! Are you ready?"

"I'm as ready as one can be for something they don't know about."

"That's right," Steve laughed, "I asked you to free up your evening because I'm taking you on a date."

Starscream's optics turned to the floor as he tried to hide a smile. "Is that so?"

"Yes, Sir. It's right this way."

The walk was far, and the longer they walked the more Starscream wondered where they were going. This wasn't the direction of the eradicon's lounge or recreation area, and it wasn't toward the wash racks or cafeteria or personal quarters.

"There aren't many mechs working around this area," Starscream commented as they reached the elevator on the farthest end of the Nemesis.

"Nobody uses this area these days," Steve said as the elevator carried them down.

The elevator stopped and opened up into darkness.

"I can't see anything out there," Starscream complained, hesitant to leave the elevator.

"Soundwave doesn't even bother to light it, since this area isn't officially used anymore," Steve replied. He went to the control by the elevator and tapped it until a soft purple glow lit the room.

Starscream's optics widened as he looked out at a cavernous shuttle hangar. The room was filled with debris and pieces of old shuttles. Some were still mostly together, their shells almost seeming skeletal in the dim light.

"I vaguely remember this area," Starscream said as he walked forward, looking at each of the broken shuttles. "We used this shuttle hangar back when we actually had working shuttles."

"Have," Steve corrected.

Starscream turned back to him. "What?"

"Come see," Steve said as he passed Starscream. The Commander followed after him, around a few other ships until he stopped at one that looked more complete than the others.

"Just wait here please," Steve said, and Starscream waited at the rear of the shuttle where the back wall was folded down into a ramp. Steve went up the ramp and began typing into the controls, until, to Starscream's amazement, the ship's controls and lights blinked on.

"It… it's active?" Starscream said with surprise.

"It sure is," Steve said as he came to Starscream and took his hand.

The inside of the shuttle looked surprisingly damage-free, not missing any parts, and it could even be called 'clean'.

"How did you find this?" Starscream asked.

"Well I didn't find it; some of the mechs and I fixed it up together. We scavenged the other shuttles and managed to find all the parts needed to make one complete one."

"Is this one of Megatron's projects?"

"No," Steve said, not sounding worried, "We did it all in our free time. We told ourselves that it was a project that we could show Megatron after it was completed, but I think we all knew it was just for the fun of doing it, to see if we actually could. But then after you and I…"

Starscream smiled. "After we what?"

"Erm… a little while after we… started seeing each other, I began to wonder if there was a better purpose for it. My friends said my plans were fine with them. That's when we began to work in earnest and really started to make progress. So here I present to you, an escape shuttle." He took Starscream's servos. "If Lord Megatron… if it's ever too much for you here on the Nemesis, if you ever need to get away for a while, you can take this."

Starscream stared at the vehicon, his mouth hanging open slightly.

"Commander, are you alright?" Steve asked.

Starscream finally blinked. "I'm uh-" He stopped when he realized how unsteady his vocals sounded, and waited until he could control them. "I'm fine." He pulled Steve closer, burying his face in the crook of his neck to hide any emotion betraying him. "I'm really fine."

Steve put his arms around Starscream, rubbing his back, allowing him time to compose himself. Finally he pulled away and leaned against the counter, smiling at Steve affectionately, still trying to stay composed. "I'm going to call it The Little Ferocitress."

Steve laughed lightly. "That's a good name."

Starscream looked around at the inside of the shuttle, hoping Steve wouldn't see the lubricant welling in his optics. "This is an exceptional date, Steve."

Steve perked up, perhaps in an attempt to lift the mood. "That reminds me, I made you something."

"Something other than a get-away shuttle?"

"Yes Sir," Steve said as he went over to the cabinet and pulled out a tray. He brought the tray over and Starscream looked down at six, glowing blue stars. "They're solid energon, in star shapes because-"

"Because my name is 'Star'-scream," Starscream laughed, holding onto the tray to stabilize it as he leaned in and kissed Steve on each cheek plate, then up to his forehelm and finally on his rectangular, oral intake. "Do you have any idea how cute you are?"

Steve laughed with embarrassment. He lifted one of the stars and Starscream took it in his mouth, crunching it up between his side denta. He closed his optics for a moment, enjoying the sweetened energon as it melted against his glossa. Nothing could make this moment more perfect.

"It's so good."

"You like it?" Steve replied enthusiastically.

Starscream opened his optics, looking at Steve curiously. "I do, but I'm wondering how you determined it was good if you haven't tried them. You drones aren't exactly built to process solid energon."

"True, but I asked Officer Breakdown to try it first, to make sure the recipe came out right."

Starscream blinked. "You did? Steve… does he know about us?"

"Uh… well um… You know, uh… yes."

Starscream's optics widened furiously. "You told him?"

"No!" Steve said, beginning to babble quickly, "I mean, he kind of read it on my blog, but he's not such a bad mech! He's actually really friendly with the eradicons. He even hooks up with them. I swear he is totally fine with you and I!"

Starscream's intakes filled. He was ready to blow up.

"He would never say anything!" Steve continued. "I swear to you! Please Starscream, trust me."

Starscream held in the breath for a moment before exhaling. He spoke in an even tone. "Of course I trust you."

Steve put his servos around Starscream and pulled him close again. "I'd never get you into trouble."

Starscream pouted, popping another energon star into his mouth. "These are really good."

"I'm glad you like them, Sir."

Starscream kissed him, running his energon-coated glossa over the opening of his oral intake. He felt Steve's face plating heat up.

"W-Wow, they are good."

Starscream ran his hand up Steve's chest, pushing him against the counter. "I think the two of us should christen this shuttle, don't you?"

Steve's intakes cycled faster. "I think that's a really good idea, Commander."

xxxx

Megatron's voice pulled him from the memory and into the present again. He turned to look at him, but Megatron was busy giving the drone instructions. His own drone hadn't made a peep since he'd entered. He now had his servos in his lap, watching Starscream and waiting for further instructions.

"Alright, turn the scanner north and check that mountainous area."

The drone nodded and went to it, and Starscream straightened up again. He glanced at Megatron and turned away quickly when he saw that the Decepticon Lord was looking back. He was convinced that he had already pulled the final straw, that it was only a matter of time before Megatron tried to finish what he started in the medical bay.

He braced himself as Megatron walked over to him. He looked at the screen nonchalantly. "Starscream, I'm concerned about the Eradicons' change in behavior. Have you noticed it, or am I the only one?"

Starscream looked at him with surprise, relieved to be talking about work, and not something personal.

"I've noticed it too, My Lord," Starscream said honestly, calming a little. Over the last two days, he had witnessed two separate incidents of rough shoving between drones in the halls.

"Two days ago," Megatron said, "while passing their mess hall, I heard an especially loud quarrel and went to investigate. A pair of drones were all but shooting at one another, and had I not pulled them apart I suspect it would have escalated to that. I threw them in the brig without energon for two days, and I want you to do the same if you see any similar behavior. I will not tolerate internal fighting in my army, especially not between mere drones."

"Yes, My Lord."

Seemingly satisfied, Megatron went back to the main control to view the drone's work. For a moment a thought crossed Starscream's mind that he would have to ask Steve about this in the evening, until he remembered that Steve was no longer within reach. He sighed went back to hovering over the vehicon at the control panel, trying to focus on his work.

To be continued.

Wow, thank you so much for the support of my book! I've just hit 100 sold digital copies, and I'm sure many of them were from you guys. Really, I can't thank you enough and I'm so excited about the positive feedback it's receiving! If you haven't already, please check out Pendragon University on the Amazon or Barnes & noble websites!


	16. Chapter 16

Heads up, this is probably the second to last chapter. Also, some of this chapter is removed and modified content from the old chapter 14, because the plot has caught up and it now fits. And again, I am deeply sorry for the hiatus. I was struggling with my confidence in the story, but I'm feeling better about it now. Please enjoy.

16

Steve sat at the desk in his new quarters and looked around at how big everything was. This room had been renovated by removing the walls to make four Eradicon living quarters into one, and the whole inside was modified. The desk he sat at, for one, no longer faced the wall as his old desk had. It faced out into the room toward the door so he wouldn't have to turn when someone entered. And it seemed to be every moment of the work day and late into the night that someone was stopping by.

He glanced over at his new berth, which could comfortably fit two or three mechs. He turned back to the pile of data pads in front of him and vented a sigh. He had a new, larger berth right in time to have no one to share it with. Or rather, not the mech he wanted to share it with.

404 entered, carrying a number of data pads. "Four more enlisted to officially back your decisions as assistant officers. F2-ANK, K3-V1N, DA-2AN and J0-5H."

"They're good mechs," Steve said.

"And you sure need 'em. You've gotten two more death threats." He added the data pads to Steve's pile of unread documents. "They were left outside your door."

Steve shook his helm as he picked one up and erased the unread contents. "I'm not radical enough to deserve this. I haven't even done anything. I've been in office longer than the late Alpha N0-DR05 when he revised the third law. Primus, he only received hate mail."

"They ain't angry at you, they're angry at what you represent: a revolution, a disturbance in the higher ranks, a potential breach in the Eradicon Underground, not to mention other things. I mean, Officer Breakdown already learned too much during the late Alpha's reign, and now Commander Starscream knows Primus knows what."

"Breakdown knows way more than… the Commander does."

"Yeah but Breakdown ain't Second in Command. He just wants a good time."

Steve didn't know what to say. He looked at 404, suddenly curious. "Why are you here, anyway? I thought D3-R3K was coming today."

404 shrugged.

"What is it?" Steve asked, a little more concerned.

"He uh, he was roughed up last night so I took his shift today."

Steve stood up. "Is he okay?"

"Yeah, yeah…" 404 started to look guilty, scratching the back of his neck. "Yeah, he was released from the med bay this morning. He's taking it easy in his quarters."

"I'm going to see him," Steve said, heading for the door.

"Hold on, hold on! You can't just go wherever you want anymore! I gotta make some comms, get a few mechs over here to escort you."

"Forget it, I don't care."

Just before he hit the controls to open the door, he heard a frantic knock. Twelve winged Eradicons stood in the hall. One of them quickly stepped forward.

"Alpha Steve, we have an urgent situation in the medical bay."

xxxx

Starscream continued to hover over the working drone, Megatron a few paces away at the central controls. Not long after their conversations about the Eradicons, did the doors to the control room slide open.

"Lord Megatron!" Knockout shouted breathily from the entrance. "The drones are fighting in the medical bay." Starscream and Megatron met optics, and Starscream could only assume that Megatron too found it a strange coincidence that they had discussed the matter so recently. They listened to Knockout running closer without looking.

"And why couldn't a superior officer, such as yourself, handle it without my assistance?" Megatron turned to Knockout, and his optics widened. Starscream turned to look, and had to blink when he saw the medic was nearly covered with energon. The spray had misted over his face, a long splattered line crossing his chest plating and reaching out as far as his arms and abdomen. His expression was a mix of distress and disgust.

"What in Primus' name is going on? How did this begin?" Megatron demanded.

"I was treating one, when four burst in and started firing at the drone on my table! That's how this…" He gestured to himself and the energon dripping from him. "I told them to stop, I armed myself, but they ignored me even after I stunned one of them! Then the wounded drones on the other tables began firing back and that's when it went out of my control."

"Where is Soundwave?!" Megatron shouted.

"Updating the Level Controls as you commanded, my Lord," Starscream said quietly.

Megatron growled, knowing full well that Soundwave was clear across the Nemesis and far below their deck level. He turned to the drone he'd been working with a moment before. "Channel in to the surveillance camera in the medical bay immediately!"

"Ah…" The drone turned to the controls as if they were suddenly in a different language. Starscream wondered if Megatron really believed a drone could replace their intelligence officer. The frantic drone turned to the one who had been assisting Starscream, and quickly they switched places. Starscream's seemingly more competent assistant typed away and a moment later the large screen displayed a scene of chaos. The wounded who were still alive had barricaded themselves behind the operation tables, leaning out to fire now and again at the intruders who were hidden behind overturned supply cabinets. The door controls had been blown apart, and from the other side came the sound of banging and shouting. Someone was trying to get in.

"Increase the volume," Megatron ordered, and the drone at the controls replied instantly.

"Stop firing immediately!" a voice said from the hall.

"There are consequences to your actions!" shouted another.

One of the offending drones in the medical bay turned to the door. "I don't care if the Alpha chose him as his successor!" he shouted, "He'll send us all to the pits!"

"I want to see the hall," Megatron said. The drone hesitated, acting as if he wasn't sure how. Starscream wouldn't have suspected anything weeks ago, but he knew now that there was more to the Decepticon army than the higher ranks knew. But that didn't mean he was going to share it with Megatron. "NOW!" Megatron roared as he lost his patience at the drone's fumbling digits. The vehicon flinched and channeled to the hallway outside of the medical bay. The hall was packed with soldiers. Those closest to the door had their cannons aimed, and others stood at the ready, as far down the hall as the camera was angled to see.

One stepped forward from the others. He put his hand on the door. "You must stop," the drone said. Starscream's spark burned at the sound of his voice. It was him. "These acts of terrorism aren't going to get you anywhere. I've said it before and I'll say it again; I have no intention of starting a war."

"It's too late for that," one of the offending drones said from the medical bay. For Megatron's convenience, the drone at the controls now had the cameras flashing back and forth as each drone spoke. "The civil war has already begun."

"That's how it should be!" one of the wounded drones shouted from the other side of the medical bay. The drones started shooting back and forth again, gunfire overwhelming the speakers and drowning out any voices.

The camera flashed to the hall. Steve had stepped aside for the others to begin firing at the door.

"I've seen enough," Megatron said. "Drone, turn on the announcement speakers. I have something to say." The soldier did as he was told, and stepped aside for Megatron. "Army of the Decepticons!" he said. His voice echoed through the Nemesis.

The drones firing in the hall stopped and began to look around.

"I don't know what stupid politics are going on among you, but you are MY army, and I don't tolerate this pathetic excuse for warfare! You will all pay for your insolence!"

"There it is," one of the drones said, pointing to the camera in the hall. The drones turned to it.

Steve stepped forward to speak, and his voice was music to Starscream's audios. "Pardon my insolence, _oh mighty _Lord Megatron, but this is none of your concern." He aimed his cannon at the camera and fired, and the screen turned to static.

Megatron roared, fists clenching. He punched the control panel, sinking his fist through the metal into the wires. He turned and began to run. Starscream and the others followed as he ran toward the medical bay. Starscream didn't know what to think. He didn't know what he'd do, or how Steve would get out of this one. The real question was why Steve was the one making decisions. What had happened to the Alpha?

They turned the corner to the hall in front of the medical bay and stopped. It was completely empty, the entrance blown open by cannon fire. Megatron stepped over the mangled door into the medical wing. Energon was everywhere, trails of it leading to the door where drones had been dragged out. There was no one left to interrogate.

The eradicons involved had gone, and they would not be found among the thousands of identical, faceless soldiers on the Nemesis. And no amount of torture would open their vocals to the truth.

xxxx

A week passed by before Megatron's anger began to steady. The entire population of the Nemesis tread by him on the tips of their pedes. His torturous interrogations of one drone after the next had come up fruitless. If one drone was close to death, the Eradicon guards would let him escape, and there was no way to tell who was accountable with so many aboard and so few higher ranks to keep tabs on who was who. Perhaps out of exhaustion, Megatron had ceased being angry in exchange for contemplation of what to do next. The fact that there had been no further incidences was a good motivator for him to put the problem on the shelf and focus once again on Autobot movement.

Starscream tapped into a data pad in the medical bay as Knockout listed off the items he needed to have restocked from the store room. His mood was worse than ever as his old, pre-Steve routine took over. It seemed that every negligible incident was eating at him.

"And then there's the stock of refurbishing equipment," Knockout said, stopping at one of the doors in the medical bay. "Paint, airbrush tools, masking equipment-"

Starscream scoffed. "Oh please, Knockout, I hardly think your excessive personal upkeep is on the Decepticon's list of priorities at present."

"But Commander-"

"But nothing. Tell me what's next so I don't have to stand here all day."

Knockout shrugged. "I suppose that's everything."

"Good," Starscream replied, heading to the door. He knew Knockout must be a little surprised, since they had previously been on decent terms. But he couldn't think of a reason why he should feel obligated to contain himself.

"Ahem, one more thing if you would. Have you heard anything about the drones? Is Lord Megatron any closer to identifying that brash soldier?"

Starscream felt prickles of charge between his wings. That 'brash soldier' was the last one he wanted to see identified.

"No."

Knockout shrugged, "Well I wouldn't bother with it anyway, as long as it's stopped. We haven't had anything else happen since the first incident, so let them play in their make-believe society."

"I suppose you would prefer a pressing matter to be dismissed," Starscream said, "You've already been busy lately by all of your rendezvous with the Second in Command." Starscream continued thoughtlessly with no motivator but his own frustrations. "Which, by the way, I cannot understand. Soundwave must be one of the dullest mechs I've personally come across."

"You don't know a thing about him," Knockout snapped quickly, "If you did, you wouldn't be spewing that nonsense."

Starscream took a step toward him. "Watch yourself, medic."

They glared one another down for a moment before Starscream turned to leave. As he walked down the hall, he couldn't help remembering standing in the Eradicon wing, begging Soundwave not to tell on him. Yes, Starscream knew there were things about Soundwave yet to be discovered by anyone but Knockout.

Starscream entered the control room where Megatron worked with Soundwave.

"Here is the inventory list," Starscream said offhandedly as he passed it to Soundwave.

Soundwave looked over it and turned back to him. "List: incomplete. Refurbishing tools: untallied."

Starscream nervously looked over at Megatron to gauge his reaction. But Megatron's optics had trailed down him, a nerve-wracking reminder that the warlord hadn't had him in a while.

Starscream turned back to Knockout. "Is it really necessary to tally such a frivolous commodity? It's not like anyone uses anything from the spray room aside from Knockout."

"Knockout's report: purple paint status: stolen."

The sneer quickly dropped from Starscream's expression. Megatron would not tolerate anything being stolen by soldiers, not even frivolities. Before he had a chance to respond that he would return to the medical bay, Soundwave was walking toward the door with the data pad, undoubtedly going to finish the work Starscream had left incomplete. Starscream panicked, angry at once again being made to look incompetent and fearful of the repercussions.

"Oh, so quick to rush off to your lover then, hm?" he blurted out.

Soundwave stopped in his tracks, but didn't turn to face him.

"That's quite enough," Megatron said offhandedly. He wasn't one to defend anyone, but Soundwave was one of the Decepticons' most crucial components, and he wouldn't have anyone compromising the spy's usually cool and calculated demeanor. Starscream glanced up nervously at the large warlord.

"I will return to the medical bay immediately," he said. He started toward Soundwave for the data pad and Megatron grabbed his upper arm and yanked him back, face close to the seeker's.

"Soundwave, report to the medical bay to finish the job that my Second in Command is too incompetent to accomplish."

Soundwave left, and Megatron continued to watch Starscream closely. "And you were doing so well for a while. You've been so productive and obedient ever since your little pet was extinguished."

Starscream flinched, and Megatron smiled. "It would have been a good idea for me to offline him myself, then you would have begun being productive earlier."

Starscream looked at the floor, biting back his anger.

The doors opened and Airachnid entered. "Lord Megatron, you requested my presence?"

"Yes," he said. "And since Starscream is here, he can accompany you on the mission I have. The two of you will be investigating a Decepticon warship known as Harbinger."

To be continued.

Another reminder about my novel, Pendragon University, which is available for Kindle, Nook and the Cloud. Please support me and spread the word!


	17. The End

Note: This is the final chapter. Remember to read the notes at the end! You'll miss out if you don't. Also, light trigger warning for the beginning.

17

Starscream stood nervously before Megatron in the control room. Desert dust clung to his frame from the incident with the Autobots, and the weight felt heavy against his back.

"My Liege," he said carefully, "I am endlessly grateful for being retrieved from the desert, but would it not have been simpler for my rescue team to unbind me so I could fly back, rather than escorting me on foot?"

Megatron didn't speak and Starscream's panic worsened. "That is to say, is there a reason why the Autobots' stasis cuffs have not been removed from my wings?"

All but one of the surrounding Vehicons and Eradicons tried to look busy at the mainframe computers as they caught glimpses of the spectacle of their bound Commander. Only one Vehicon, the one stationed closest to the seeker, worked at the controls without looking over his shoulder. Airachnid stood by wearing a smug expression and Megatron watched him, optics unsettlingly dark.

"I suppose it might have something to do with Airachnid's report, what she saw between you and the Autobots from a distance. Do you have any idea what that might have been?" Megatron stepped forward and Starscream cowered back. "Something along the lines of you falling to your knees before the Prime, pleading for mercy from my greatest enemy?"

Starscream's spark sunk, a cold chill running down him. "I… I know of nothing but my own self-defense, my Lord. I only wished to return to serve you."

"Let me rephrase that. Do you have any idea what it is that she might have HEARD between you and the Prime? Some expression of your eagerness to deflect from the Decepticons and become an AUTOBOT?"

Starscream gaped, optics wide with terror. "I… I would never! I would never betray you!" Megatron took another step closer and Starscream fell ungraciously to his knees. "Lord Megatron please have mercy, I was only trying to-"

Starscream was cut off as Megatron hit him across the face, knocking him to the side. Megatron stepped closer and threw his fist down, punching him over the spark chamber. Starscream gasped as the air was forced out of his chest. Megatron closed a servo around Starscream's throat. "How dare you show your face here again? Did you think you would just get away with it? Did you think I wouldn't find out?!" Megatron swung down, punching Starscream so hard that his vision went momentarily black. And then he was hit again just before it returned, sending his helm crashing against the floor. He shrieked from the pain as Megatron moved back to his stomach, one blow after the next until he simply gripped him, digits beginning to dig into the metal plates. Starscream cried out. He had seen this before, Megatron tearing a bot open with his bare hands, pulling out his machinery while the victim consciously watched himself die. "I can't imagine why you didn't try to run, not after such blindingly unforgivable treason against me!"

Starscream knew why. He knew exactly what compelled him to step out from behind the rocks when an Eradicon search party came near. His last time seeing the Vehicon who had bathed him in the wash racks could not have been in the past. Even if he had to wait years, he needed to see him again, to tell him the truth before something pulled them apart for good.

"You will never leave," Megatron growled wildly, "you will never escape me. You are mine. Your every drop of Energon belongs to me, your every intake of air is mine to give or take from you. You will never belong to the Prime because YOU ARE MINE!" He punched him again, cutting a long line beneath his optic. His servo turned down to Starscream's interface panel. Starscream yelped as he roughly shoved a claw into the side seam, triggering his interface panel to automatically open like he had so many times before. Airachnid's expression had fallen, optics wide as she watched. Everyone knew Megatron took what he wanted from Starscream, but it had never happened out in the open. The drone soldiers had all stopped their work, and the closest Vehicon stood unmoving with his digits dug into the controls, still not turning to look.

"Please don't," Starscream cried, terror and humiliation overtaking him. He tried to close his legs and Megatron forced them apart.

Starscream's processor flicked over memories of the gentle Vehicon's touch, and his words of devotion and admiration, his belief in him. He growled and swung up, hitting Megatron in the face. It barely knocked him back and he growled, optics brightening furiously. "How dare you strike your master? You should be begging for me to frag you, for me to punish you rather than rip out your spark! This frame of yours has saved your life too many times, and you are lucky for it, lucky you have a tight valve worth my interest. So unless you want to die tonight, you will press your servos against the floor and lay there quietly for me, for you have _no other_ worth."

But Starscream had had enough, even if it killed him. "Perhaps it doesn't mean anything to you that I loved that Eradicon, but I know what matters to you. And that's that this valve of mine isn't all yours." Megatron's expression smoothed, fury building in him as Starscream continued. "That's right. I never dominated him; he was always the one to take me, pounding this pretty little valve better than you ever have. You may be able to hurt me, _my Lord_, but you will never be able to please me."

Starscream was ready for the pain of retaliation, but Megatron stayed unmoving. He watched Starscream silently, which was almost more terrifying than any other kind of response. When he finally spoke, he spoke low and evenly, a sharp digit pointing to him. "I am going to bury these claws in that port of yours and tear you apart. And when I am finished, I promise you will never be able to feel another frag again."

Starscream heard the sound of even footsteps approaching from behind him, and watched Megatron look. Starscream turned his head and looked up at the Vehicon standing above him.

"You'd better have a magnificently crafted excuse for interrupting me now, drone," Megatron growled.

The Vehicon shrugged a shoulder. "Just taking back my seeker."

Steve snapped his digits and the other Eradicons hit the controls, sending the room into darkness. All at once the control room was filled with the sound of weapons firing and Megatron's canon blasting in all directions. Starscream felt Steve grab his servo, pulling him up and dragging him to the door. The hallway was black for a few moments before sirens began to ring, dull backup lights blinking to life.

"I am so sorry I didn't intervene sooner," Steve said as they ran along, still holding Starscream's servo. "I hated waiting but I wanted to make sure you were ready to burn that bridge. I didn't want to ruin things for you if you were prepared to take his punishment. But then when he threatened you like that, I just couldn't stand by anymore."

"I cannot help wondering if your chivalry has slipped over the brink of insanity, to face Megatron as you did… But I am glad of it." Starscream tightened his hold on Steve's servo. "Now we need to concentrate on devising a way off this ship, and where in Primus' name there is to go from there."

"Does finding the lost seekers sound like a plan?" Steve asked.

"Are you serious? How do you expect to get there? How would you possibly locate them?"

"Don't worry. I've got everything covered."

"Do you even know how much Energon would be needed for such a trip?"

"Already stolen, Sir."

They continued to run through the Nemesis, and it seemed at every turn Steve was receiving a comm from someone else, telling him which halls to take. Nearly at the end of the ship, they stepped into an elevator and Starscream realized where they were headed. "The shuttle?! It's ready?"

"Yes, Sir. Flight ready and stocked with supplies."

Starscream felt a swell of pride in him. The elevator door opened and his face fell as they looked out into the shuttle hangar, where close to fifty soldiers stood waiting. He knew they'd been caught. He quickly raised his weapon, denta clenching together. He wouldn't go without a fight.

"Commander! It's okay, they're with us."

Starscream looked at him with confusion. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"I kind of got promoted, it's a long story. Come on." He ushered Starscream out of the elevator. Starscream stared at the mass of soldiers standing at attention. He watched as the soldiers fell to one knee, helms bowed. One of the drones in the front row approached. "Lord Starscream, standing before you are the Eradicons who have pledged their loyalty. A few will accompany you on your expedition, and the remaining will remain here under Megatron's command to await your further instructions." He turned to Steve. "Sir, we're running out of time."

Steve nodded. "Alright mechs," he called out, "get to it." The Eradicons broke formation. Steve turned to Starscream, whose mouth had fallen open. "C'mon Sir, we have to get you out of here." He took his servo, pulling him through the crowd toward the shuttle. There was a gust of wind as the hangar wall slid open, looking out over the night sky. They stood outside of the Little Ferocitress.

"Okay, you're going to be accompanied by eight Eradicons. They are navigators, medical assistants, engineers to maintain the shuttle, and the best fighters who chose to become loyal to you."

Starscream struggled to find the words. "But what caused this? How did this come to be?"

"The late Alpha tested you, and you passed. He chose loyalty to you by choosing me as his predecessor. Now come on, you have to go."

Starscream nodded and started up the shuttle ramp, pausing as he noticed Steve staying where he was. "I thought we were in a rush, Steve. What are you waiting for?"

Steve hesitated. "Sir, I'm… I'm not going with you."

Starscream straightened. "What do you mean?"

"I'm Alpha now. I can't leave."

Starscream couldn't speak for a moment. "Wh… what are you talking about? You can't stay here! Megatron will find you! He'll kill you!"

"He won't find me, I promise. And I have to stay here if there's any chance I can convert the rest of the army to swear allegiance to you. I know I can do it, but it's going to take time."

"Forget that!" Starscream shouted, panic rising, "You've done enough! Come with me!" Steve didn't answer. Starscream's brows drew together. "Steve, I don't need any more! Just come! I will make you come with me! I will force you!" Starscream's digits clung to his chest plating, but he knew he didn't have it in him to force Steve into anything anymore.

"I can't," Steve said. "This is only a few soldiers among the Decepticons. I can't leave until I've given you the whole army, and made you a true Lord. That's what you've always wanted, and I'm not stopping until you have it. It's what I was meant to do, and you won't be able to change my mind."

Starscream stared at him. "I'll be gone for years, don't you understand?"

"I'll wait for you. And… I know it's a long time. If you feel differently when you come back, it's okay… I'll-"

"Shut up," Starscream said, feeling himself breaking down. He buried his face against Steve's neck. "Just shut up, Steve."

Steve's arms slipped around Starscream's waist, and he leaned into the Vehicon's hold.

An Eradicon approached them hurriedly. "Megatron is closing in. You have to go."

"It's time," Steve said. He walked Starscream into the shuttle where the other Eradicons waited. "You're going to be Lord someday," he said, trying to encourage him. Starscream leaned in, pressing a lingering kiss to Steve's intake.

As Steve backed away and the shuttle ramp closed, Starscream's rank was the last thing on his mind. All he could think of was someday being free to give his spark to the one who truly deserved it.

The shuttle lifted off and headed skyward, but it wouldn't be the last time Starscream saw these stars.

The end

Important Note: If you haven't already, I suggest you check out Easing Tension, and especially the sequel, Whisper of the Spark. They're in the same universe. Whisper of the Spark takes place ten years in the future, when Starscream returns to Earth in the Ferocitress. It's still about Soundwave and Knockout, but there are continual hints of Starscream and Steve, especially in the last few chapters.

Thank you so much for reading.


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